organic wrote: ↑05 Sep 2022, 18:07
Andi76 wrote: ↑05 Sep 2022, 18:05
Even more intersting about this picture is the low ride height Ferrari obviously is able to use. This makes Ferraris loss of performance in the races a real mystery to me. They obviously do not need to set up their car higher, as they should if TD39 would have a negative impact on their car...
Think it's more complicated than just a simple ride height problem. Their main advantage through the season has gone which was traction, as has their compliance on bumps. Seems they are having to run stiffer recently as I see no other reason for them to be doing it. Perhaps forced to by TD039.. and with stiffness you gain no advantage from having to run high & stiff, so they now run low & stiff (more like merc than before)
I have thought a lot about Ferraris performance loss in the race, and i think there are several reasons for that. The root of the performance loss in my opinion is not only TD39, but its indeed is the root of the problem.
Because of the new TD Ferrari has to run , like you already said, a stiffer suspension setup. This has an effect on contact frequencies, which is, next to the tyre temperature, one of the most important factors of how to make use of the tyre. Tyre temperature and contact frequency work in opposing directions. As temperatures rises the compound becomes softer. As contact frequencies rises, the compound becomes harder. So the higher the contact frequency, the more temperature you need to compensate in order to keep the tyre at its intended softness. Contact frequency is about how the loads react uppon the rubber, and because its a visco-elastic material, its not consistent. Up to a point the rubber will accept incoming energy and react against it, trying to spring back in the opposing direction to the load and thereby creating grip. Beyond that point the tyre cannot regain shape quickly enough to absorb the next input of load. This has the effect of stiffening and hardening the compound, breaking the process down and causing the tyre to slide. And that would explain the difference in performance between qualifying and race. The contact frequencies have gone out of the window and while its good for one fast lap, heating up the tyre quickly, after a few laps the tyre gets beyond that point.
I think the cause is indeed TD39, because Ferrari has to setup their car differently(probably higher at the front). This has resulted in a loss of downforce, what also changed the balance of the car(the drivers complained a lot about the cars balance recently, while they always said how well balanced the F1-75 was before) and the loads on the suspensions. An important factor in suspension design is the loads and if these loads change, this can result in a lot of problems. Understanding the implications and the changes necessary is not an easy thing to do. So, in simple words i think the TD39 has forced Ferrari to use a stiffer suspension setup and a higher front ride height, what resulted in a loss of downforce, different aerodynamic loads, a different balance of the car and different loads on the suspensions of course, that now do no longer work as intended.
A massive effort would be needed to understand and improve all these negative effects and maybe the changes needed would need a complete redesign of some major components(as the changes needed are not possible with the parts available as its out of their operational window - so TD39 has probaby completely corrupted Ferraris philosophy).
To be honest - i really think Ferrari is already focused completely on 2023 and they are right to do so, especially if the rumour is true that Ferrari is not able to run their powertrain with "full-power" since its upgrade in Belgium. It is said that for reliability reasons they run their powertrains with less power in the race. This would also make the difference in performance between qualifying and race reasonable. Because of the homologation they were forced to upgrade the engine, even it the upgraded engine is not reliable yet and now they have less power than before. I do not know if thats true, its a rumour i have heard.
Its also said that Ferrari is close to the budget cap already(in terms of developement, what would explain the lack of updates). Even if this leaves another question open and debattable: how is it possible that Mercedes and Red Bull are able to constantly bring updates to their cars, while Ferrari is only able to do a few upgrades? There are only two possibilities -either there are major losses in Ferraris System what makes developement expensive or some teams get around the budget cap. I do not mean to imply a break of the rules of some teams or one team having huge losses in its system, but its the only two options unfortunately.
