Ferrari F2012

[C Plinius Secundus]

Is it me or does this year's F1 Ferrari have the fit and finish of an old '80's FIAT?

No, it certainly doesn't look like an 80's Fiat. I've got one, bought it brand new (anyone interested in a used Fiat? ), and it's got a better finishing than this year's Ferrari.

Just by looking the build quality of the McLaren, Ferrari is in shambles.

[ringo]

That cooling hole is a joke. What were they doing the whole of last season when they were working on this car?
I mean you have the big slab of a step, where a cooling hole could be easily bored.
And thy go and slap on subaru intake on top of the tub.

It's like they started the design in December. Ferrari technical team is a mess.
Hard workers, but shallow and poorly structured.

The good thing with the car is it runs much better in the race, but overall it is lacking everywhere.

[bhall]

How much, if any, of the F2012's pitch sensitivity could be the result of reactive ride height being banned? Or, put another way, what happens to a car that's designed from the outset to feature RRH when it can no longer feature RRH?

Is it a fundamental handicap or just relatively annoying?

[xpensive]

How much, if any, of the F2012's pitch sensitivity could be the result of reactive ride height being banned? Or, put another way, what happens to a car that's designed from the outset to feature RRH when it can no longer feature RRH?

Is it a fundamental handicap or just relatively annoying?

I have this sneaking suspicion that if pitch sensitivity is really the case here, it's somehow intertwined with that front suspension and its odd geometry and loadcases?

[myurr]

How much, if any, of the F2012's pitch sensitivity could be the result of reactive ride height being banned? Or, put another way, what happens to a car that's designed from the outset to feature RRH when it can no longer feature RRH?

Is it a fundamental handicap or just relatively annoying?

Dunno, ask Lotus maybe? They don't seem to have missed out too much.

[timbo]

I have this sneaking suspicion that if pitch sensitivity is really the case here, it's somehow intertwined with that front suspension and its odd geometry and loadcases?

You really don;t like that front suspension, don;t you?))

[myurr]

How much, if any, of the F2012's pitch sensitivity could be the result of reactive ride height being banned? Or, put another way, what happens to a car that's designed from the outset to feature RRH when it can no longer feature RRH?

Is it a fundamental handicap or just relatively annoying?

I have this sneaking suspicion that if pitch sensitivity is really the case here, it's somehow intertwined with that front suspension and its odd geometry and loadcases?

Errr... McLaren had a pitch sensitive car for the last two years without having a pull rod front suspension. If Ferrari's aero package is pitch sensitive this year then the worst thing that could possibly be laid at the front suspensions feet is that the setup isn't adequately holding the car in a stable position (be it bouncing over the bumps, pitching under braking / acceleration, etc.).

However there's no evidence of there being anything wrong with the front suspension setup other than it looks a bit different and the CofG looks higher than the others. The reality is that if pitch sensitivity is the issue then that is an aero problem and is probably fundamentally baked in to the overall design philosophy of the car. This years McLaren has finally fixed that problem for them allowing them to run a softer front end, but they had that problem of pitch sensitivity baked into their aero solution for two years before they overcame it. Ferrari are going to have their work cut out and will probably need to take a step backwards, giving up theoretically more downforce for a more stable car, before they can take a step forward.

[timbo]

For as long as pitch sensitivity and porpoising have been known to be massively detrimental to aero cars, it would surprise me to be caught out like that. Would show up pretty blatantly in an aero map, no?

Well, they're not running their initial exhaust config, so maybe the current configuration is having more of it.
But I wonder if dynamic effects have more impact on pitch sensitivity, so it's one thing when you map the attitude vs DF in the tunnel and another when the car rides the bums on the corner exit.

[xpensive]

How much, if any, of the F2012's pitch sensitivity could be the result of reactive ride height being banned? Or, put another way, what happens to a car that's designed from the outset to feature RRH when it can no longer feature RRH?

Is it a fundamental handicap or just relatively annoying?

I have this sneaking suspicion that if pitch sensitivity is really the case here, it's somehow intertwined with that front suspension and its odd geometry and loadcases?

Errr... McLaren had a pitch sensitive car for the last two years without having a pull rod front suspension.
...

Really, I had no idea, guess that means that a pull-rod front suspension is not the only xplanation for a pitch-sensitive car?

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Today in Malaysia



New FW


Old FW

[bhall]

I have this sneaking suspicion that if pitch sensitivity is really the case here, it's somehow intertwined with that front suspension and its odd geometry and loadcases?

Errr... McLaren had a pitch sensitive car for the last two years without having a pull rod front suspension.
...

Really, I had no idea, guess that means that a pull-rod front suspension is not the only xplanation for a pitch-sensitive car?

With regard to aerodynamics, could it be related to the step-nose? Compromised exhaust not providing intended downforce? (Or should I not even bother looking at the obvious differences between the F2012 and the 150 Italia, which, to my knowledge, was never reported to have such problems?)

If it's the front suspension, how? Is it somehow not working in concert with the rear suspension?

(My apologies for the Brian-esque series of questions. I promise that none of them are rhetorical or otherwise pointed.)

[tpe]

Gills

Is it me or does this year's F1 Ferrari have the fit and finish of an old '80's FIAT?

That EXACTLY my reaction when I saw the pictures. They don't even have the same type bolts! Seriously, I don't like it. It seems like a lot of patch job...

[myurr]

With regard to aerodynamics, could it be related to the step-nose? Compromised exhaust not providing intended downforce? (Or should I not even bother looking at the obvious differences between the F2012 and the 150 Italia, which, to my knowledge, was never reported to have such problems?)

If it's the front suspension, how? Is it somehow not working in concert with the rear suspension?

(My apologies for the Brian-esque series of questions. I promise that none of them are rhetorical or otherwise pointed.)

Pitch sensitivity means that as the cars angle of attack changes you get a greater than expected change in downforce. An example of this could be that when the car is going down the straights and under braking it's generating plenty of downforce, but when you get back on the power the car rocks back on the rear suspension pitching the nose up and the car loses a disproportionate amount of downforce. That's my favourite theory for the problems with the Ferrari.

Another example would be a car where running down the straights all is good and the wings are working as the team wants, but under braking the nose dives slightly therefore increasing the angle of attack and stalling the wings / diffuser.

F1 cars are a collection of tiny details and major aerodynamic devices all working in harmony together. Ferrari's issue may be as simple as the airflow no longer correctly lining up across all the devices at certain combinations of angle of attack and speed. A simple problem but a horrid detail that they will need to work through to understand exactly what is going wrong and then come up with a less sensitive solution.

[tpe]

More pics from today. Right click>view image

Aren't those "black things" the on board cameras? If so, were are the lenses?

[myurr]

Aren't those "black things" the on board cameras? If so, were are the lenses?

They're dummy cameras. They have to have a certain number of cameras, some of which will be dummy some will be real (presumably decided by the broadcaster?).