Ferrari F138

[Ferraripilot]

I agree Ferrari have positioned the floor to sidepod area very compact, but all that gear has simply been raised in the sidepods which is why their CoG is higher. Ferrari took the aero benefit over the CoG benefit with this one. If they could have the exhaust exiting lower I believe they would have taken that option, but they clearly could not have both.

[.poz]

Also if you zoom in on the second to last photo, the large gap between the bottom of the gearbox and the floor can be seen more clearly, in addition if you take a look at the largest of the three holes in front of the tires that reduced tire squirt is broken and bent down

Tilted engine/gearbox ?

[miguelalvesreis]

Not taking any merit to the amazing rear end of the F138 but, all that area must be filled with air and I'm still thinking that the front of the car is too simple. I am most probably wrong but to me, the FW seems too simplistic and I still think that it should try to divert the maximum volume of air to the interior, between cockpit and wheels.

Besides that, I don't see any team trying to feed the area after the front wheel to decrease the depression there. Wouldn't it be advantageous?

[Huntresa]

Yeah this huge coke bottle area wont benefit them if they cant get the air there, im still in doubt over this Ferrari, but then again they have Alonso and he doesnt even need a good car to win so ;:D

[Red Schneider]

the FW seems too simplistic

This is one of the things I'd worry least about, I think.

[Forza]

Jerez day 2

[edraganov]

Yeah this huge coke bottle area wont benefit them if they cant get the air there, im still in doubt over this Ferrari, but then again they have Alonso and he doesnt even need a good car to win so ;:D

Huntresa,

That is not entirely true. Alonso is a great driver but having a mid-field car like F2012 is like always being in the edge in the championship. Like Senna in 1993, he took advantage of messy racing variables, rivals retirements, etc.. and did not let the opportunity slips through his hands. However, two races without scoring any points were sufficient to smash his championship lead and he found himself without a car that could have enabled him to fight back.

[miguelalvesreis]

the FW seems too simplistic

This is one of the things I'd worry least about, I think.

Why's that? It's supposed to be THE most important feeder for the back of the car. It's the first bit to hit the silpstream! Or am I seeing wrongly?

The question is not true by simply comparing it to some other teams one but, instead, understanding what their idea was? What's the philosophy behind it? What are they trying to achieve. Seems to me that they will need a huge amount of air passing thru in between the wheels and thru the barge boards/sidepods interface to really unleash all the potential they've created on that slim back end

[Red Schneider]

I mean that their front wing designs are probably in the pipeline. It's on its way, so I wouldn't panic at this stage.

Now that I think about it, you might even say that detailed front wing design comes a little bit second because (apart from increasing downforce at the front end) you're asking yourself, 'how can I shape the airflow so that it goes over and around the sidepods the right way to the back of the car?' In other words you need a working concept for the sidepods and rear before you can decide how the front wing can contribute to guiding the airflow.

It's a bit simplistic and just a guess, but it makes some sense to me, and it also fits the trend of teams launching with old front wings.

[Gridlock]

Plus the FW is a huge clue to the overall philosophy and priorities of a design team, and innovations are easily copied, so there's an element of being sneaky about it too.

[Red Schneider]

Didn't James Allen say it takes a thousand hours to make a front wing? That boggles the mind. Surely that must include all the R&D from scratch.

[miguelalvesreis]

I mean that their front wing designs are probably in the pipeline. It's on its way, so I wouldn't panic at this stage.

Now that I think about it, you might even say that detailed front wing design comes a little bit second because (apart from increasing downforce at the front end) you're asking yourself, 'how can I shape the airflow so that it goes over and around the sidepods the right way to the back of the car?' In other words you need a working concept for the sidepods and rear before you can decide how the front wing can contribute to guiding the airflow.

It's a bit simplistic and just a guess, but it makes some sense to me, and it also fits the trend of teams launching with old front wings.

Well, I would probably work otherwise. I would firstly start with the FW and determine how much clean air I could send, then, the sidepods, trying to make them the less obtrusive possible. But that was if I was starting from scratch.

I understant that they are improving a base that was deployed last year. And thinking so, I can understand that, even for comparision with last year car, to create a measurement baseline to be sure that they've achieved correlation between CFD and WT figures with real life, that they have to work by steps. And with that in mind, I would leave the FW for a later moment, a moment when I would have those CFD and WT figures corrected or certified so I could be sure that the FW I developed was going to achieve whatever I was trying to achieve.

In that way, then I absolutely agree with you

[miguelalvesreis]

Plus the FW is a huge clue to the overall philosophy and priorities of a design team, and innovations are easily copied, so there's an element of being sneaky about it too.

Don't really believe that. It's so important that has to be fine custom made to the rest of the car. If it would be so simple why all the differences between all teams. Why wouldn't everybody just copycat RB one?

Copying geometry is simple but understanding the philosophy that was behind is development is essential. It's not like copying turning vanes and vortice generators. It's probably the most complex aerodinamic part of a F1 nowadays.

[Red Schneider]

Well, I would probably work otherwise. I would firstly start with the FW and determine how much clean air I could send, then, the sidepods, trying to make them the less obtrusive possible. But that was if I was starting from scratch.

The question I would ask is: nose height aside, do you get to decide 'how much' air to send? I would tend to think that you have a given airflow and you're just trying to shape it.

[Owen.C93]

Nice view of the huge rear floor area and space under gearbox. Plus some slotted rear brake ducts which haven't been seen before.
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