Scuderia Ferrari SF71H

[Just_a_fan]

I personally think the holes are to direct airflow to negate any lowering of pressure on the top of the Ferrari sidepods created by the upper sidepod vents "stealing airflow" and possibly creating lift due to the lowering of the pressure. Creating the small wing in the mirrors directing the airflow down towards the top of the sidepods and away from any disturbance created by the Halo

That makes more sense. The mirrors are too close horizontally and lack sufficient depth or shape to direct air down in to the top intakes. I can see the mirrors maybe helping to sort air disturbed by the halo too. The air path through the mirror housing might help offset the drag caused by the mirrors and thus offset some of the drag caused by the halo, although this would be a minimal gain really.

[Just_a_fan]

https://i.imgur.com/6tdUtIa.jpg

That image is funny. I assume it's not a serious attempt to explain air flow in this region?

Are you seriously trying to say its for drag reduction? Really? If that is the case then you dont belong on here.

The little wing on the side of the tub isn't sending air around the place as shown. It's a big VG and it's setting up a vortex to run around the sidepod. It's certainly not sending air in to the radiator openings. That's just for starters.

The mirrors do not have the depth or shape to send air down in to the top radiator opening. They are too high and too close to have much effect in bending the flow like that. They might be helping air attachment over the top of the side pod or they might be helping clean up the halo's flow.

[roon]

That image is funny. I assume it's not a serious attempt to explain air flow in this region?

Are you seriously trying to say its for drag reduction? Really? If that is the case then you dont belong on here.

The mirrors do not have the depth or shape to send air down in to the top radiator opening. They are too high and too close to have much effect in bending the flow like that. They might be helping air attachment over the top of the side pod or they might be helping clean up the halo's flow.

If the mirrors aren't being used to direct airflow into the top sidepod intake than can someone explain why they would have a downward swooping trailing edge to them?
http://i.imgur.com/O2atIaZ.jpg

That is a simplistic way to see things my friend. You don't need a hole in the mirrors to deflect air into the sidepod holes. And at 180 miles an hour do you really believe air will turn down int the side pod in the space of 10 inches? The down curve is just there to clean up the wake from the mirrors themselves.

PZ & JAF: consider that the lift-producing profile of the mirror will direct air downward. This will also influence the flow field around it. The air passing through the mirror may not make it to the radiator inlet, but the air beneath it may.

The deflection angle will vary with airspeed, so who's to say how aggressively the air downturns relative to velocity.

The wide base of the mirror mounts and it's outward curvature also lends credence to this hypothesis; that the mirrors generally have been turned into rad inlet guide-vanes.

If the mirrors aren't being used to direct airflow into the top sidepod intake than can someone explain why they would have a downward swooping trailing edge to them?

[Big Mangalhit]

What if mirror are for both drag reduction and to direct more airflow for the radiator?

Maybe in high speed it will manage the mirror wake and maybe even direct air to the back of the car, and at low speed direct the air to the opening. That would be very advantageous cause you could have more refrigeration in the low speed sections (which generally have lower cooling) and have less drag in the high speed zones to avoid having as much airflow in the drag heavy radiators.

Is this even possible?

[Sieper]

Maybe, it sounds good! But, everytime I see flow vis applied to the cars (I watch all fp runs) I always look at the patterns and it never ceases to amaze me how little effect even big wings seem to have. You cannot make air bend around corners, deflect a bit is the most that you can hope for it seems. I don’t think the mirror can bend the air down this massively. It certainly seems though that Ferrari did aim the mirror to do just that. The top shots comparing the 2017 to the 2018 car are very clear in that respect.

Now, and this is really true, I am a RedBull fan (Max really) and last year when they introduced the super low drag car I was looking at the detailing and thinking about which drag inducing element remained and the mirrors seemed one of those things and I thought up the exact same solution Ferrari made here. But If I can think it up then I guess Redbull and all other teams must have looked I;to this and at least tested a windtunnel version?

So what is this mirror, viable or just a gimmick an amateur thinks of, or both or something in between.

[FLuidd]

What if mirror are for both drag reduction and to direct more airflow for the radiator?

Maybe in high speed it will manage the mirror wake and maybe even direct air to the back of the car, and at low speed direct the air to the opening. That would be very advantageous cause you could have more refrigeration in the low speed sections (which generally have lower cooling) and have less drag in the high speed zones to avoid having as much airflow in the drag heavy radiators.

Is this even possible?

it would have to flex, so no it is not possible

as for the sidepods i suspect that ferrari is being able to have them so tight by placing the components higher than its rivals, i guess their goal is to have aerodynamic efficiency at the cost of weight higher on the car, an extra weight that will have to be handled by their suspension configuration and tyres.

Expect ferrari to use softer tyres than their rivals.

[Sieper]

They wouldn’t have to flex, I think the idea posed here by big mangalhit is that at lower car speeds the mirror might be able to bend the airflow more extreme simply as it has lower velocity compared to the car, at higher speeds the mirror will likely not be able to bend the airflow much at all anymore, but possibly simply reduce drag or indeed form it better for downstream effect.

There might be Some truth to his line of thinking.

[adrianjordan]

In answer to "why hasn't this been done before" if the mirror design IS just to cut drag... Maybe that was exactly what was asked in the design office when they came up with it..!!

[PlatinumZealot]

Guys an easy way to tell is to watch the mirror at speed. Bedning the air down produces an upward lift on the mirror so we should see the mirror bending towards the halo at high speeds.
I believe it is drag reduction of the mirror itslef and wake conditioning before the air goes over the side pod. Will it influence the air to the radiator? Yes.
but i am sure the intention is not to feed the radiator!

[cramr]

Here is how it may look like inside the mirror:

https://i.imgur.com/6tdUtIa.jpg

Why would the air want to do that? It goes against the radiators adverse pressure gradient. Besides, you want the cleanest flow possible to go in the cooling radiators not one that has been disrupted by the mirrors.

As it's been said I think it purely drag reduction (reduce the blockage effect of the mirror) But I have my doubts that they are doing anything big...

[Mr.G]

Here is how it may look like inside the mirror:

https://i.imgur.com/6tdUtIa.jpg

Why would the air want to do that? It goes against the radiators adverse pressure gradient. Besides, you want the cleanest flow possible to go in the cooling radiators not one that has been disrupted by the mirrors.

As it's been said I think it purely drag reduction (reduce the blockage effect of the mirror) But I have my doubts that they are doing anything big...

I would say there is more than drag reduction - why build the outer shell if they want just less air disturbance they can just create the inner piece... I don't see it to bend the air directly to the top intake but rather helping with the flow behind the mirrors...

[gibells]

I didn't before notice how high the side-pods are, and how high the sidepod inlets are. Higher than last years no?

[astracrazy]

I'm tempted to say that they just look higher because of the smaller intakes and big undercut.

[lio007]

Top view:

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