Imola San Marino GP 2004

For a moment some fans may have thought the Grand Prix of San Marino would be the first in 2004 that wasn't be won by a Ferrari. Reason to believe was some Brit called Button, who set a stunning lap during second qualifying session, faster than anyone else on the circuit. With a difference of almost 0.3 seconds only in the last sector, it was clear that the BAR Honda was in excellent form, confirming it was no coincidennce that Button secured two third places in the last two races of the season.

However, the story was somehow different in the race, when it became clear Button had been running his qualifying lap with 4kg less fuel on board. Between the two rounds Button and Michael Schumacher came in for their pitstop, the latter took a 5 second gap to the Brit. The young Brit knew by then he was racing for second place, if the leading Ferrari of Schumacher was not hampered by mechanical problems.

Imola is the first circuit in Europe, after a three week break since Bahrain. This left the teams plenty of time to test new developments, which resulted in many novelties, both in mechanic and aerodynamic areas.

B·A·R's secrets unraveled

Since BAR seems to be on top of things lately, there must be a reasonable explanation for their performance. Honda was pleased to announce that the Imola package came with a new specification of the Honda engine, now adding a little more than 10hp and decreasing the weight by 1 kg. Insiders think the Japanese engine is currently the best of the field, topping both Ferrari and BMW. The Honda engine has been quite powerful in previous years, and combined with the company's reputation in Formula One, it may not be a surprise that the engine is that good. The point is however that Honda managed to reduce the weight over the winter. Both drivers had been complaining about that aspect several times in 2003, and despite the higher mileage demands for the engine, Honda managed to create a compact, reliable and powerful engine, a combination that the manufacturer was unable to present in previous years with BAR.

The team at Brackley had not been sitting still either, with several aerodynamic improvements as a proof of that. The most obvious was certainly the new midwing, being almost an exact copy to those that the all winning Ferrari had been running during the first races. However, that same Ferrari team apparently started to doubt that midwing, as both drivers tested on Friday with a smaller midwing as you can see on the right picture. These midwings are simply flat aerodynamic elements that do not create downforce on their own. They do help to stabilise air passing under it to increase rear wing efficiency (air passing over is not of such an importance, since it does not come into contact with the rear wing).

BAR also made use of the three weeks to change the sidepods a little, with the removal of a vertical plate at the outside rear of the sidepods (these were attached to the flipups). It is however possible we will see such an item back, since that plate was used only in Malaysia and Bahrain, both high temperature environments.

How to generate rear downforce?

Already from the beginning of the season, the teams saw their rear wing efficiency being limited because of the change in regulations. These state that a rear wing is now limited to a maximum of two horizontal downforce generating elements, in contrary to the three that were allowed last year. As simple as it may sound, some teams apparently found other ways, with in particular BAR. The team introduced two vertical elements on the wing (see picture, left top), just as in rally . The elements had already been limited in size, preventing the wing could be found illegal after the race. Other teams like Williams had protested against a special new rear wing from BAR, and the FIA were trying to change the rules to disallow these elements.

Apart from this, there are really two ways to optimise your downforce generated at the rear, if you don't consider the shape of the sidepods. First, you insert extra wings, or second you may try some weird shapes of the rear wing elements. As this is Formula One, both have been tried by several teams. BAR and Williams have adopted for the extra wing just between the rear wheels. Looking from the back, the height of the wing is about just in the middle between the low and high elements on the rear wing.

The other option wasn't such an original idea, since it was also very popular in the early nineties (where they were allowed multiple lower elements). Almost all teams have been experimenting with the shape of the lower element in the rear wing, as you can see in the pictures. It is obvious that its shape largely depends on the parts in front of it, like the sidepods, exhausts, ... . The shapes shown in the race are the result of wind tunnel testing, rather than logical thinking of the designers.

And Minardi evolutes its car too...

Somewhat by exception because of limited time in the wind tunnel, Minardi introduced aerodynamic developments at Imola. The changes included a revised sidepod air inlet. The front of the sidepod had been rather perpendicular to the airflow. The drag generated by this has now been addressed by moving the foremost points a little more towards the front, opposite to moving the outer parts of the sidepod towards the rear. The result is a visible change, which may still be hampered by the truly high sidepods that Minardi are still driving. It would probably be very beneficial for Minardi to revise the placement and shape of the radiators, and thereby change the complete sidepod aerodynamics by a sleeker design. However, both drivers were positive about the new developments, and were therefore used in the race. Friday test driver Bas Leinders still had to drive the older type, as there were only two new items available.

As the images also show, Minardi sported some new sponsors and a changed colour scheme of the engine cover. The latter is now painted in Superfund-green. New sponsors were senna.tv and Eros Ramazotti, an immense popular Italian singer who wanted to promote his latest cd by writing it on the rear wing end plates of the Minardis. Both sponsors are likely to have appeared for only the San Marino GP.

Adjusting to the climate

As Imola is not known for its high cooling demands, we could notice several changes in that area, particularly since the two preceding Grand Prix' certainly were. So is McLaren, who do not give up in developing the current MP4/19. It are however small developments, as problems are that substantial that they are putting a lot more effort in designing the MP4/19D, which is planned to come out at the Nurburgring. Meanwhile, the outlet covers were made smaller. The larger holes used to pull away hot air, but since cooling demands were met without this extra exhaust, they were removed to increase aerodynamic performance. The left image shows the McLaren at Sepang, while the right is a picture taken at Imola.

Worth a note

• Jordan came to Imola with some fine-tuned turning vanes. The change is hardly visible, and unlikely to make a big difference, but of course every little bit counts.
• As a result of Mike Gascoyne being at Toyota, the 'master of development' had his first true influence in the car's performance on track. Elements were relocated and redesigned to reduce the centre of gravity of the TF04. Gascoyne knows the car is far from competitive, and is doing everything in his powers to change that. There will however not be very big changes until around Silverstone, where the team plans to introduce a totally new aerodynamic package.
• Something to think about: Despite the fact that the Williams sidepods are really low (also at the front), the design is quite boxy. It is likely the result of the safety regulations that demands a minimum resistance in side impact, but something should be done. The sidepods are not shielded off be a barge board, which is why such a layout may cause more drag than needed (image on the right).
• In memory of Ayrton Senna who died in a race accident 10 years ago, some teams made it clear on the bodywork they still haven't forgotten about the Brazilian. Williams painted a Senna S on the sidepod inlet (image), Minardi had some advertising from senna.tv, and Jordan sported a message from Bahrain, including a picture of the 3 times world champion.
• McLaren introduced a new rear wing, including new end plates. The new RWEPs are bent to the outside a little to fetch more air onto the horizontal plates, and decrease vortices behind the plates. (see image at the bottom)
• Pierced noses are still used in F1, proven by McLaren (see image). The small air inlets are most likely used to cool down the dampers in the front suspension that tend to generate a lot of heat. A second purpose may be to provide some cooling for the driver.
• Sauber (image) had its winglet attached to the flipups, most likely do share stress on both items.
• Jaguar again drove the usual air exhausts and left home the unusual big types used at Bahrain.