Ferrari SF-26

[Stu]

Macarena wing in action on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
Look at the size differences in the gap.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HHhn3xAXQAA ... ame=medium

Credit:
@XPBImages

This hyper fixation of that gap is contra productive.
Even if it is beneficial, its like 1% difference. And then add to it that the RB solution generates a lot srtonger end plate vortices because the wing ends in free air, creating a lot of drag.
So in the end its efficiency in regards to its gains shall be very similar to the Ferrari solution.

Add to all that the large actuator in the middle, which creates continuously drag and vortices, worsening the effectiveness of the entire wing. Regardless if closed or opened.

Exactly. At the end of the day what you're trying to promote is earlier separation on the mainplane and having the flap closer to it should achieve that better, not worse. It's not like you care about absolute local downwash per se. You use that to achieve something else.

Having the two profiles in such close longitudinal proximity could be a desired feature, the CFD video that has been released (see the RB22 thread) does not show the scale of the overall profile change (it is obviously ‘off’ as the flipped profile stays with the height of the endplate). So as with the analysis of the Ferrari original results should be taken with a pinch of salt and only used to determine a possible trend in the effect.
Overall I think that the effect of both is very similar, but the (fluid)mechanics of how each one creates that effect are fundamentally different.