2024 Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team

[DoctorRadio]

So seems like there will be new updates at Singapore ?

The article (from Sky) claimed the next package is expected "from Singapore to COTA".

I'm not sure if this means at Singapore, at COTA, or they don't really know yet, but I'm going to lean towards the final option. Realistically, I don't think they'd introduce a large package for Singapore, COTA makes more sense.

What article are you referring to?

[Vanja #66]

+1

I would imagine Ferrari were aware of the flex wings on show with other cars and must have been working on this for some time, so not a knee-jerk reaction to the Monza on-board vids as it might appear. And, yes, asking for clarification before committing is totally logical.

It really is a curious development. First it was just Red Bull and they kept bringing and testing a wing with outboard flap adjuster to enable inboard flexing, but they rarely used it in races. And it's not like McLaren wasn't doing it for more than a year anyway, but it's now a problem

Now all of a sudden, Ferrari is making noise too and it doesn't make sense to wait 2/3rds of a season to make some noise. It makes sense to have it all in writing to make sure your solution will not be blocked. However, FIA left a window open to make everything more restricted for next year. In that case it would be a waste of time and resources to design a new wing - but still a lot less damage than McLaren and Mercedes would "suffer"

I still think RB tried to force a TD or a silent ban on flexing to hurt McLaren, but FIA had none of it. And now that we learned there's a decent chance RB had their brake steering banned, it makes even more sense to push for a ban on others to cancel out their own losses

[dialtone]

+1

I would imagine Ferrari were aware of the flex wings on show with other cars and must have been working on this for some time, so not a knee-jerk reaction to the Monza on-board vids as it might appear. And, yes, asking for clarification before committing is totally logical.

It really is a curious development. First it was just Red Bull and they kept bringing and testing a wing with outboard flap adjuster to enable inboard flexing, but they rarely used it in races. And it's not like McLaren wasn't doing it for more than a year anyway, but it's now a problem

Now all of a sudden, Ferrari is making noise too and it doesn't make sense to wait 2/3rds of a season to make some noise. It makes sense to have it all in writing to make sure your solution will not be blocked. However, FIA left a window open to make everything more restricted for next year. In that case it would be a waste of time and resources to design a new wing - but still a lot less damage than McLaren and Mercedes would "suffer"

I still think RB tried to force a TD or a silent ban on flexing to hurt McLaren, but FIA had none of it. And now that we learned there's a decent chance RB had their brake steering banned, it makes even more sense to push for a ban on others to cancel out their own losses

More so than "Vasseur needs to go because the car is back bouncing", this is the stuff I look at that the TP needs to handle. How to take risk and how to navigate rules and politics, and as trivial and reasonable as this may seem in hindsight, if Ferrari really has a wing ready, that's the stuff of Ruthless (with R) leaders, and what we weren't getting before him. Last night I wrote about doing anything to get this out the door this year, and I absolutely LOVE what Vasseur has done with the team. I really hope it's true because that's how you do it. Massive W if true. Vasseur is the man.

[Vanja #66]

More so than "Vasseur needs to go because the car is back bouncing", this is the stuff I look at that the TP needs to handle. How to take risk and how to navigate rules and politics, and as trivial and reasonable as this may seem in hindsight, if Ferrari really has a wing ready, that's the stuff of Ruthless (with R) leaders, and what we weren't getting before him. Last night I wrote about doing anything to get this out the door this year, and I absolutely LOVE what Vasseur has done with the team. I really hope it's true because that's how you do it. Massive W if true. Vasseur is the man.

Let's see how it works out, but all the story bits fit well together in my view. They only had one small update to front wing with Imola package and I was surprised there wasn't anything else at all. This now makes sense

[Xyz22]

On Sky Italy they are showing all the 2024 races + sprints.
I have been able to watch almost all of them these days. In pretty much each race, Leclerc has been struggling with understeer in low speed corner. A few examples: Miami tight part in the middle sector, China first 2 corners, Jeddah first 2 corners, Monza first chicane (especially in quali), etc. Sainz seems to manage these corners better than Leclerc, even though in terms of overall laptime is often slower.

Leclerc identified this issue already during testing https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/02/ ... 1-chances/

Really hope that they will be to improve there with a new FW this year or at least for the 2025 car.

[Emag]

On Sky Italy they are showing all the 2024 races + sprints.
I have been able to watch almost all of them these days. In pretty much each race, Leclerc has been struggling with understeer in low speed corner. A few examples: Miami tight part in the middle sector, China first 2 corners, Jeddah first 2 corners, Monza first chicane (especially in quali), etc. Sainz seems to manage these corners better than Leclerc, even though in terms of overall laptime is often slower.

Leclerc identified this issue already during testing https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/02/ ... 1-chances/

Really hope that they will be to improve there with a new FW this year or at least for the 2025 car.

An understeering car is almost always really hard to make fast, it’s honestly surprising and very impressive by Ferrari to be so competitive while having this problem.

I remember back in 2021, McLaren had a bullet on the straights and a strong rear end, but the car understeered horribly in low-medium speed corners and they ended up dropping a huge chunk of laptime in just a handful of corners.

Comparing Apple to Oranges I guess, but still. If Ferrari makes a car with a strong front end next year while not compromising (much) elsewhere, then Charles would be the favorite for the WDC for me, even with Lewis being on the same team.

[Vanja #66]

Apparently, Sanchez coming to Ferrari. Franck Sanchez, from Sauber, not David Franck started in F1 with Prost GP way back in 2001 and has been in Sauber since 2021.

https://www.formulapassion.it/f1/f1-new ... i-hamilton

Corriere repoets an offer was made to GP Lambiase as well, but declined.

[Xyz22]

On Sky Italy they are showing all the 2024 races + sprints.
I have been able to watch almost all of them these days. In pretty much each race, Leclerc has been struggling with understeer in low speed corner. A few examples: Miami tight part in the middle sector, China first 2 corners, Jeddah first 2 corners, Monza first chicane (especially in quali), etc. Sainz seems to manage these corners better than Leclerc, even though in terms of overall laptime is often slower.

Leclerc identified this issue already during testing https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/02/ ... 1-chances/

Really hope that they will be to improve there with a new FW this year or at least for the 2025 car.

An understeering car is almost always really hard to make fast, it’s honestly surprising and very impressive by Ferrari to be so competitive while having this problem.

I remember back in 2021, McLaren had a bullet on the straights and a strong rear end, but the car understeered horribly in low-medium speed corners and they ended up dropping a huge chunk of laptime in just a handful of corners.

Comparing Apple to Oranges I guess, but still. If Ferrari makes a car with a strong front end next year while not compromising (much) elsewhere, then Charles would be the favorite for the WDC for me, even with Lewis being on the same team.

It's not absolutely terrible but clearly an area of improvement. It also seems to affect Leclerc more than Sainz, probably due to the different driving style and therefore the balance of the car required to perform well.

Apparently, Sanchez coming to Ferrari. Franck Sanchez, from Sauber, not David Franck started in F1 with Prost GP way back in 2001 and has been in Sauber since 2021.

https://www.formulapassion.it/f1/f1-new ... i-hamilton

Corriere repoets an offer was made to GP Lambiase as well, but declined.

Thank God.

[bluechris]

I am thinking ... if a new flexwing is ON for the team... then this will not reduce the porpoising without doing nothing in the back?
In high speeds, the flexiwing will have less downforce and with that you dont press the nose down so much and the car sits higher in front thus making the car less dragier and more air with pass underneath it.
Correct me if i am wrong

[Emag]

I am thinking ... if a new flexwing is ON for the team... then this will not reduce the porpoising without doing nothing in the back?
In high speeds, the flexiwing will have less downforce and with that you dont press the nose down so much and the car sits higher in front thus making the car less dragier and more air with pass underneath it.
Correct me if i am wrong

Comparably speaking, the downforce generated by the front wing against the downforce generated by the floor and rear wing is minimal.

It’s not enough to cause or fix problems by its own, but it is obviously a really important part to mediate the balance.

[Vanja #66]

It's not absolutely terrible but clearly an area of improvement. It also seems to affect Leclerc more than Sainz, probably due to the different driving style and therefore the balance of the car required to perform well.

I still think it's more related to suspension and tyre window than aero, but after Q starts its Parc Ferme and you can only play around with tyre pressures and front flap angle. Both drivers complaining about understeer in Q3 just confirms how sensitive the front end is when track temp drops just a bit. It was a good choice for the race, but especially next year I think they have to design the suspension a bit more towards Q. No more than how things were in 22, but definitely more than this year, too many positions and points were lost due to worse grid position

I am thinking ... if a new flexwing is ON for the team... then this will not reduce the porpoising without doing nothing in the back?
In high speeds, the flexiwing will have less downforce and with that you dont press the nose down so much and the car sits higher in front thus making the car less dragier and more air with pass underneath it.
Correct me if i am wrong

As for bouncing, the new floor is very different and they eliminated the most bouncing-sensitive geometry features now. More flexible front wing could be designed with more static angle and make it drop back to current values at speed, seems like this would be very good for Ferrari and McLaren seems to be doing it like that. Having a stronger front with a bit more aero at low speed is not a huge thing, but it can help especially now that gaps between cars are 1-2 tenths at most

[yooogurt]

Apparently, Sanchez coming to Ferrari. Franck Sanchez, from Sauber, not David Franck started in F1 with Prost GP way back in 2001 and has been in Sauber since 2021.

Sauber is the last team I'd like to see an big engineer move to us from, but okay, we'll see.

[Vanja #66]

Sauber is the last team I'd like to see an big engineer move to us from, but okay, we'll see.

Don't forget Vasseur came from Sauber and knows well how good any individual is

[Emag]

Something that I somehow had missed before, but Vasseur apparently comes from a strong technical background and has even founded winning motorsports team earlier in his career :

Vasseur graduated from ESTACA where he studied aeronautics and engineering. He founded the ASM team in 1996 which, in partnership with Renault, won the French Formula 3 championship with David Saelens in 1998, and the Formula 3 Euroseries championships in partnership with Mercedes-Benz with Jamie Green, Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta and Romain Grosjean, from 2004 to 2007.

[Seanspeed]

Having a stronger front with a bit more aero at low speed is not a huge thing

It actually is a huge thing, because it's not super low speed where it helps so much, it's the kind of loaded lower to mid speed corners that are actually super common on the calendar these days, especially at all the non-traditional tracks. A reactive front end is a massive advantage to have if you can do it without compromising overall downforce(like through a shorter wheelbase) or balance.

It's also a big boost for drivers, as any driver ever likes a front end that reacts better to their turn-in inputs, and lastly, it also improves a driver's ability to overtake/defend by giving more viable options for racing lines and even with a traditional line, obviously the quicker you can get the car properly turned into a corner, the quicker you can start accelerating out of it, which inherently helps overtaking and defending.

It is overall quite significant and one of the biggest aspects of why Mclaren and Mercedes have taken the leaps they have(and thus why Red Bull and Ferrari have tried to complain about it).