Scuderia Ferrari SF90

[Xwang]

Right so Ferrari boss says https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferr ... to/4481646

Alright in this forum we all have seen that Mercedes has gone for a draggier car but way more downforce and is thus way more faster. Even in circuits where we thought ok Ferrari has a more powerful PU it will be quicker because it has straights like Baku and Montreal they will win but turns out that was not the case.

We don't have simulation software. We realized that downforce is king in F1 and you can make a lot more time in the corners than you can being blindingly quick down the straights. This is not Nascar/indy after all.

Yet Ferrari went for that philosophy and now FINALLY a third of the season being over the Ferrari team boss is like yeah ok we need to get more downforce at the expense of top speed.

Someone please explain that to me. How Ferrari could have missed that memo where downforce >> top speed.

Moderators sorry if this is in the wrong thread.

As far as I have understood (please correct me if I have not correctly understood) this year thinner threaded tyres does not warmup too much for the natural" bending of the tyre belts. Moreover being less tyre mass temperature is lost more quickly.
So to reach and keep the working temperature it is needed to put additional energy on the tyre with the aerodynamic load (via tyre sidewall cyclical compression and extension).
I suppose that they did not understand/knew that at the time and so the car was optimised with more shift towards efficiency (in the last years Mercedes was not the faster car in slow corners but was much more efficient), but with this year tyres the additional downforce (specifically on the front tyres) of Mercedes permits them to put the tyre in the correct window more easily and to keep them (maybe they have also exceeded with that since their cars have suffered of blistering in France even with the thinner tyre belt.

[timbo]

Someone please explain that to me. How Ferrari could have missed that memo where downforce >> top speed.

Remember that the tyres come into this equation as well. It's not that optimizing the car for top speed is always a mistake. Williams were very efficient with this concept in 2014, sure they were not fighting Merc really, but with a fraction of the resources.
If they could make tyres work it would be a different story.
Also, Merc comes from a very different design tradition, so it probably was not hurt that badly by the rule change. IMO RedBull lost even more performance than Ferrari, and it also lacks DF.

[digitalrurouni]

Thanks guys for the explanation. In my mind it seems to make more sense to change the testing venue to a different track then where the temperatures are more representative of the season - f1 doesn't happen in snow after all. So that we get closer racing throughout the season and a better inter team development war.

Perhaps somewhere like Sepang would be perfect. It does have all types of corners and the weather would be more conducive and also help in getting F1 back in to good graces amongst fans and organizers cause that track is EPIC!

[zibby43]

In other words, if they are able to completely rectify all of their problems.

What would you propose the purpose of the new front wing is?

The front wing will only be the first step in a series of developments designed to address the issues you initially referenced. It will be a marginal improvement, at best, and that improvement will be incremental. And if they comit fully to the direction of bolting on more downforce, they will begin to compromise their top speed advantage.

A few days ago, Binotto told Michael Schmidt of AMuS that Ferrari will need at least 2-3 development steps until they have a chance of eroding the Mercedes advantage by attempting to mirror their concept. He went on to say that 2-3 development steps can't happen in 2 weeks; maybe 2 months, if at all.

So, in sum, the new FW won't be a cure-all, and if they want balance and tire performance, they will have to compromise their current concept of supreme aero efficiency.

A few weeks ago, I implied Ferrari was going to have to choose between retaining their straightline advantage and working the tires.

Seems like they've finally decided on going for the latter.

Right so Ferrari boss says https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferr ... to/4481646

Yet Ferrari went for that philosophy and now FINALLY a third of the season being over the Ferrari team boss is like yeah ok we need to get more downforce at the expense of top speed.

[One and Only]

It seems impossible to turn on these tires without high downforce package so it's not like Ferrari has a choice. If they could make tires work with their efficient aero concept I reckon they would be much closer to Mercedes.
One more thing comes to mind. Less efficient aero concept could easily lead to more fuel consumption. If Ferrari's engine is thirsty then they might not close the gap to Mercedes. Car will be easier to drive with tires in operating windows, but will it be fast enough?

[mclaren111]

Thanks guys for the explanation. In my mind it seems to make more sense to change the testing venue to a different track then where the temperatures are more representative of the season - f1 doesn't happen in snow after all. So that we get closer racing throughout the season and a better inter team development war.

Perhaps somewhere like Sepang would be perfect. It does have all types of corners and the weather would be more conducive and also help in getting F1 back in to good graces amongst fans and organizers cause that track is EPIC!

This issue has been discussed many times before... Distance from the Teams's bases (UK) and the associated costs are the biggest problem...

[JordanMugen]

This issue has been discussed many times before... Distance from the Teams's bases (UK) and the associated costs are the biggest problem...

It would be wonderful when at least half the F1 teams can be realistically based in Japan, Korea, China, Australia etc. At the moment, the F1 calender precludes it. It would be simply unfeasible to base an F1 team in Japan or China, due to the configuration of the F1 calendar and this is a real shame for a sport that claims to be a "global" one.

Car will be easier to drive with tires in operating windows, but will it be fast enough?

Tyres are always king on a racing car.

[SmallSoldier]

It seems impossible to turn on these tires without high downforce package so it's not like Ferrari has a choice. If they could make tires work with their efficient aero concept I reckon they would be much closer to Mercedes.
One more thing comes to mind. Less efficient aero concept could easily lead to more fuel consumption. If Ferrari's engine is thirsty then they might not close the gap to Mercedes. Car will be easier to drive with tires in operating windows, but will it be fast enough?

In the race? It should... Because if you can carry more speed into the corners during the “lift and coast” segments of the race, you should be able to get a better overall lap time... So, having the tires in the right operating window could be more beneficial than straight line speed over a race distance.


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[MtthsMlw]

AMuS

[MtthsMlw]

https://twitter.com/AlbertFabrega/statu ... 6012538880

[Morteza]

[Sevach]

I think this goes with those.


Tuning vane comparison.

[Morteza]

Via @BerrageizF1

[zioture]

Video

https://twitter.com/Graftechweb/status/ ... 5459694593

[Sevach]

Different setup philosophy responsible for the turnaround according to Leclerc.

https://www.racefans.net/2019/06/29/lec ... akthrough/