DaveW wrote:
In my view, Ferrari has shown the courage to follow engineering logic in its F150. The 2011 season will test that logic, of course. Will they be slower than all the pull rod vehicles? Probably not.
So a few races in. We don't really know what's wrong with the F150, but seeing every big team car that was behind them last year is suddenly up front. With the only differences to last year being the suspension layout, will ferrari do a knee jerk and chose pull rod next year?
They are not winning or even podium-ing at the moment. Don't look like they will be in the next 3 races.
The suspension may not be the problem, but clearly it's hard to pinpoint anything else, other than the wings and midbody maybe. It's possible a pull rod suspension may at least make it easier for them to observe the other teams and make adjustments.
Now they are on their own in keeping up developement. Their copying abilities are very limited atm.
So their engineering logic is definitely being tested. Looking back to the beginning of the thread. It wasn't really a big a deal as it's made out to be, but at the same time i still don't know why ferrari went with the push rod.
They would have been just as fine with the pull rod, now that we see it's not a problem in setup adjustment, as the engineers use extended tools to do it, and we also see that reliability is not a problem either.
Neither is the exhaust being obstructed, as we now see that the shrouded exhaust is the fad of the first half.
So with hindsight, was it really necessary for them to do all this with the pushrod when the benefits are not even clear, and it could be observed rightly or wrongly that it may be a performance differentiator that is holding them back?
They need for front grip, but the rear is limiting their balance. suspension COG, or pushrod requiring long cooling hole on the engine cover, losing aero efficiency to blame?