Has anyone answered why Ferrari ran a front winglet that generates lift?
I have a thought on the matter, please de-bunk it
I suggest that the winglet generates more front-end lift as the car goes faster (during straights and fast corners) and a lower amount of lift as the car goes slower (through slow to medium corners). The benefit to this would be that Ferrari can run more front wing downforce for the slow corners with the winglet creating enough lift to counteract that downforce during the straights and fast corners.
The front wing also generates more downforce as speed increases. And less at lower speeds. So one wing pushes one direction, and a smaller one in the opposite direction? And since they both contribute to drag, this would be one cancelling out another, but with added and unnecessary drag.
Teams watch each other, and if one comes up with a good idea, they are examined, and if feasible, implimented. Chimneys, turning vanes, sidepod fences are just a few examples. In many cars, there has been a growth of vanes and strakes on the nose section. Toyota and Renault are two good examples. So now Ferrari are trying their version.
Thanks for the de-bunk. I hear you, but then why do you think they would come up with a solution that is obviously a lift-generating airfoil? If the main reason is to clean up the airflow, perhaps a more orthodox shape would work?
This winglet seems to be different in shape to the ones sprouting on other cars, so I'm a bit curious as to why. Losing the flexing front wing got me thinking that perhaps this was a solution to it. Because of the extreme angle of the winglets, I would think they would generate a considerable amount of lift at speed...ah well...
Don't think of the tiny wings/strakes on the Ferrari front chassis as being there for downforce, at least not directly. They are very narrow and of little length, and thus even in optimum conditions contribute little direct forces. But since they are so close to the chassis, they manage the air coming off the front wing. This is a critical area, because that air flows over the cockpit, around the top of the sidepods, to later meet the rear wing. If the air isn't controlled and directed in the correct direction, it would have an effect on the rear wing. Remember the McLaren mirrors, how on many occasions they vibrate at high speed, and have even fallen off? It's that dirty air coming off the front wing with a lot of turbulence. Of course, McLaren have that distinctive wingy thing on the airbox to straighten out the airflow, but it's still the same story.
Downforce if generated primarily from the front and rear wings, and the underbody. Everything else is there to keep things in order.
