Ferrari F2012

[Gaara]

So what are the main weakest point of this car?

The chassis?

[beelsebob]

So what are the main weakest point of this car?

The chassis?

The coke bottle was my impression.

[raymondu999]

I'd give the undercut some go too - the sidepods seem to be the fattest of the top running teams - possibly further hurting the coke bottle.

[Bomber_Pilot]

I too think the sidepod frontal area was huge and also not "sculpted" enough underneath the sidepod intakes. The rear of the F2012 was one of the tightest, but they just couldn't get enough air to it.

[TheGkbrk]

I think the sidepods and therefore the coke bottle area. But mainly sidepods, they were just too sharp I think and they were looking kind of ancient really. Most of other top teams had much neater sidepods.

[stefan_]

I'd give the undercut some go too - the sidepods seem to be the fattest of the top running teams - possibly further hurting the coke bottle.

That's my thought too, but I think that they designed the front side of the sidepod taking in consideration the Acer ducts, and I guess that they thought it is worth sacrificing that area. Unfortunately, the ducts were a total disaster and they had to work with what they had after they realised it.

[Gerhard Berger]

Well the larger sidepods were the results of their unorthodox cooling system with the vertical radiators and hot air exiting at the end of the sidepods, near the exhausts.

They will have to go back to a more orthodox cooling system and change alot of the internals in order to reduce the sidepod size. I think there is alot of potentional performance in it though. We saw the gains Mclaren made when they pinched the sidepods in their Hockenheim update.

[Neno]

So what are the main weakest point of this car?

The chassis?

sidepods shape for sealing air to the diffuser. lotus solved that problem with internal aerodynamic, even they didnt have
tight package. other car problem was traction, and it's still is. but this i area where they made good progress in season, but that car lacked a great deal of traction that even with updates they still lacking.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

I'd give the undercut some go too - the sidepods seem to be the fattest of the top running teams - possibly further hurting the coke bottle.

Yeah I think so too. Obviously the vertical rads didn't help any after they abandoned the Acer Ducts. In the picture below you can see how much taller they are versus the RB8 and less sculpted as well. There was much of the initial undercut below air intakes and didn't have a very good transition around the leading edge towards the side/rear


Via F1.com

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Here's the latest from Piola on the last F2012 Updates






























All images via Amus

A video of the updates can be found here--> http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 80979.html

[Nando]

I N S A N E.

the time needed to create that 3d/CAD model is immense.

[vall]

I don't know, but looking at the on-board shots, Ferrari drivers had no make steering corrections all the time, while the Bull would go wherever Seb and Webber want and stay there. So, I think overall RB was much more balanced and drivable car. Fred and Massa had to fight the car all the time....

[bhall]

Here's the latest from Piola on the last F2012 Updates

The sad part is that updates did nothing for the car after Silverstone.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Here's the latest from Piola on the last F2012 Updates

The sad part is that updates did nothing for the car after Silverstone.

Agreed. The poorly designed F2012 hit its development ceiling far earlier than its rivals. The small refinements only helped to maintain the gap, not close it. Which actually gives me hope for 2013. The team obviously knew they had basically reached the end of development without a redesign(too late in season) so the fact the small refinements helped to maintain the gap tells me they at least have a good understanding of the car. Which will help since the Regs don't change much for 2013.

[Cam]

Here's the latest from Piola on the last F2012 Updates

Apologies if this was discussed, I have flicked back and cannot see anything on it. What is that bar for (round tube coming out the back of the rear of the body work to the beam wing? Could it be carrying air for blowing or just structural?
Edit: typo