Scuderia Ferrari SF90

[warpomex]

Doesn't the area between behind the front wheels and the sidepods look way too clean compared to other cars?
Not that the Ferrari had a lot of stuff going there last year, but the difference is striking.
Why would that be? Thanks!

[PhillipM]

Rear wing is way more inefficient than the diffuser even with it being higher and wider, it's one of the draggiest parts on the car in isolation - the only time driving the rear wing hard is good is if you need to do so to link the flow to the diffuser to get the floor working properly.

[LM10]

Rear wing is way more inefficient than the diffuser even with it being higher and wider, it's one of the draggiest parts on the car in isolation - the only time driving the rear wing hard is good is if you need to do so to link the flow to the diffuser to get the floor working properly.

Then every team's number 1 priority for this season must have been to have an as big as possible airbox with as slim as possible sidepods?

[PhillipM]

Which is what most teams have done, move cooling up into the airbox area and slim the sidepods, as the airbox no longer blocks the wing as much due to it being higher and wider.

[godlameroso]

Which is what most teams have done, move cooling up into the airbox area and slim the sidepods, as the airbox no longer blocks the wing as much due to it being higher and wider.

You can only do so much slimming, part of the fun is ensuring the critical areas aren't stagnating under turns. Partly why the curved diffusers work so well, and why we are seeing Sauber style front wings. Smart cookies these f1 guys.

The benefit is in the upper surface just as much as the underside. Thats why we have the fighter jet sidepods, they channel air on over in hopes those critical areas can get a little waft of air.

[F1NAC]

Doesn't the area between behind the front wheels and the sidepods look way too clean compared to other cars?
Not that the Ferrari had a lot of stuff going there last year, but the difference is striking.
Why would that be? Thanks!

We will see more development there. They just didn't even bother to cover the diffuser during launch.

Something will change during testing

[NathanOlder]

@LM10
Or as slim as possible for both. Recent times have seen the sidepods being slimmed down with airbox size going up to help achieve the minimal sidepod size.
Maximum downforce, minimal drag and a balanced car. Downforce is king but not with the high drag the rear wing creates, thats why we see small levels of wing on the rear at a lot of tracks. Especially if a team has the diffuser working well like RedBull.

[LM10]

Which is what most teams have done, move cooling up into the airbox area and slim the sidepods, as the airbox no longer blocks the wing as much due to it being higher and wider.

True, Ferrari seems to be the only team clearly going for a smaller airbox. The question is why. I can't really imagine that they were the only ones among all the others that weren't able to properly seal the floor and diffuser, hence compensating it by directing much air towards RW, as has been pointed out as a possible reason here. If that actually was the reason then they shouldn't have championship ambitions as it would kind of be an enforced solution rather than a sophisticated and balanced one.

[warpomex]

@LM10
Or as slim as possible for both. Recent times have seen the sidepods being slimmed down with airbox size going up to help achieve the minimal sidepod size.
Maximum downforce, minimal drag and a balanced car. Downforce is king but not with the high drag the rear wing creates, thats why we see small levels of wing on the rear at a lot of tracks. Especially if a team has the diffuser working well like RedBull.

Is it possible that we're looking at a High Downforce rear wing? The sort of stuff we'd look at in Mexico or even Monaco. You know, just to mess with people's mind. Yes, the front doesn't look like it, but this car is not going to hit the track as is.

[LM10]

@LM10
Or as slim as possible for both. Recent times have seen the sidepods being slimmed down with airbox size going up to help achieve the minimal sidepod size.
Maximum downforce, minimal drag and a balanced car. Downforce is king but not with the high drag the rear wing creates, thats why we see small levels of wing on the rear at a lot of tracks. Especially if a team has the diffuser working well like RedBull.

Is it possible that we're looking at a High Downforce rear wing? The sort of stuff we'd look at in Mexico or even Monaco. You know, just to mess with people's mind. Yes, the front doesn't look like it, but this car is not going to hit the track as is.

Of course, instead of having difficulties sealing floor and diffuser, maybe, in fact, they're confident about the downforce their diffuser will generate and will generally use slimmer RWs than their opponents. And if they need high downforce configurations, they will have a quite effective usage of the RW because of the smaller airbox.

But that's just speculation at this point. We will have to wait for a couple of races to have a better idea on what's going on.

[dfegan358]

i am very impressed by the slim down packaging at rear end. marked difference from last year. agreed it does look cleaner behind front wheels compared to others but that doesnt mean its slower.

another factor to weigh up is the power unit performance of each manufacturer. all the talk of engine gains from renault and honda. There has been little to no mention of ferrari engine gains.

at the end of the day, there will be quite a few changes to all cars between now and melbourne.

[dans79]

You need to stop looking at everything in such extremes. It's not black or white, it's one of the many shades of grey in between.

Which is what most teams have done, move cooling up into the airbox area and slim the sidepods, as the airbox no longer blocks the wing as much due to it being higher and wider.

True, Ferrari seems to be the only team clearly going for a smaller airbox. The question is why. I can't really imagine that they were the only ones among all the others that weren't able to properly seal the floor and diffuser, hence compensating it by directing much air towards RW, as has been pointed out as a possible reason here. If that actually was the reason then they shouldn't have championship ambitions as it would kind of be an enforced solution rather than a sophisticated and balanced one.

[LM10]

I'm not sure I did it correctly, photos were taken at different angles a bit. It seems wheelbase shorter than SF70h Can anyone make a comparison too? https://pp.userapi.com/c849024/v8490241 ... kMXSlk.jpg

AMuS tells that the SF90 has a 7 cm longer wheelbase than last year's car. And less rake.

[LM10]

You need to stop looking at everything in such extremes. It's not black or white, it's one of the many shades of grey in between.

Which is what most teams have done, move cooling up into the airbox area and slim the sidepods, as the airbox no longer blocks the wing as much due to it being higher and wider.

True, Ferrari seems to be the only team clearly going for a smaller airbox. The question is why. I can't really imagine that they were the only ones among all the others that weren't able to properly seal the floor and diffuser, hence compensating it by directing much air towards RW, as has been pointed out as a possible reason here. If that actually was the reason then they shouldn't have championship ambitions as it would kind of be an enforced solution rather than a sophisticated and balanced one.

Good point.

[Artur Craft]

i think that front wing is a wrong design. For outwash recovery, I think Merc/RB design is more appropriate