Ferrari F2012 Development News Thread

[Ophidian786]

Good article on f1technical.net regarding Ferrari changes at the test.
www.f1technical.net

Thanks Nova, that was a very good article.

Here's the direct link

http://www.f1technical.net/development/358

[scuderiafan]

By the way Alonso was making his statements, this is apparently only a 'small' upgrade, and a 'more significant' one is coming in Barca.
if this wasn't significant in their eyes, I wonder what is.
Blue car, maybe?

[Ste]

By the way Alonso was making his statements, this is apparently only a 'small' upgrade, and a 'more significant' one is coming in Barca.
if this wasn't significant in their eyes, I wonder what is.
Blue car, maybe?

Alain Prost....

[F1technicaleye]

hi guys some thoughts about this test: i think that the most important thing concerning this test is not how much these updates will improve the car(these ones or the other ones for barcelona) but it seems that we are finally developing the car without copying other teams.(our exhaust remains pretty unique even to mercedes) instead of that for the first time i can see the working hand of pat fry vs. aldo costa. i don't know if our car will improve better than the other ones, or if we will stay in the battle for the championship, but at least i see direction, courage and a more modern style of developing the car. (more work in the factory and less on the track) i'm not saying that all our problems solved and that we will win in barcelona, this year or next year, it may take longer. but i think the changes that ferrari is making could lead into a new era.

FORZA FERRARI

[Homan13PSU]

By the way Alonso was making his statements, this is apparently only a 'small' upgrade, and a 'more significant' one is coming in Barca.
if this wasn't significant in their eyes, I wonder what is.
Blue car, maybe?

Spanish Inquisition.

[REDARMYSOJA]

Spanish Inquisition.

No one would expect it.

[anialonso]

Ferrari Updates Photos::

1_2759378(1).jpg
2_2759387(1).jpg
5_2759386(1).jpg
7_2759382(1).jpg

[number 13]

Not sure if posted here again but :

http://www.f1zone.net/news/ferrari-g...ble-drs/13778/

If this is true it sounds good for us!

[vcs316]

May 4 (GMM) Ferrari might be gearing up to incorporate a 'double-DRS' setup aboard its improving F2012 car.

If true, the famous Italian team would be the first team to successfully emulate the controversial Mercedes system, which has been declared fully legal by the governing FIA.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said a new rear wing was among the very last upgrades to be trialled by Fernando Alonso as the Mugello test concluded late on Thursday.

"The wing has only minor changes. You have to look closely," read the report.

The magazine reported rumours that the wing might eventually accommodate the so-called 'double-DRS' or 2012-style F-duct, which would work in conjunction with a new and so far unseen front wing.

"That (wing) will debut along with a new diffuser and nose in Barcelona," added Auto Motor und Sport.

There were happy faces in the Ferrari garage on Thursday, as - despite a minor off by Alonso - the upgrades appeared to work well.

"Barcelona will be a key moment in the season, but not a decisive one," the Spanish driver insisted.

"It's not a case that we will suddenly find ourselves back on pole position, because there is no magic button."

Echoing the earlier words of Mark Webber, Alonso said the "fastest car" at Mugello this week was the Lotus.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko agrees: "It looks like Lotus are the quickest."

Veteran Swiss correspondent Roger Benoit wrote in Blick newspaper: "Lotus, with Kimi Raikkonen in super shape, is the championship dark horse."

[Ste]

Great post, courtesy of amouzouris on F1Technical.

Jerez test:
In Jerez they first tested the launch configuration....which as we all know, unfortunately failed....
in this configuration ferrari was trying to use downwash from above the sidepods to direct the exhaust gases to the brake duct fins....



when they saw that it didnt work...they gave a shot at blowing the rear wing...
which was abandoned, probably because it gave very little performance gains...



they then tried to use the coanda effect in addition to the downwash to direct the exhaust gases to the diffuser...
as you can see here..the small extension was added in front of the lower part of the exhausts to take advantage of the coanda effect...

neither did this version work...


Barcelona test:


In Barcelona the brought yet another configuration...this time blowing at the beam wing...the exhaust needed to be deflected at a much lower angle so it was more predictable...ferrari used this configuration for the 1st 4 races f the season...



Mugello test:


On the first day at Mugello they tried this configuration...which featured a much longer extension in front of the lower part of the exhaust, which was described by many as a tongue, to try and deflect the exhaust gases to the diffuser again using the coanda effect and downwash but this time (believed) more effectively....additionally vanes were added on the floor to direct the exhaust gases...



On the third and final day of the Mugello test, ferrari brought new sidepods with the acer ducts almost completely gone...the goal of this configuration is to again blow the upgraded and now detached from the crash structure beam wing without blocking the flow to the rest of the beam wing as the original acer ducts did...


EDIT 2: I have removed the suspension parts and drive shafts to improve the visibility because it was looking too messy and no real detail could be shown





Larger upgrades will be brought in Barcelona next week which i believe will feature the newer sidepods with modified exhausts to deflect the exhaust plume at the diffuser....

[burak karakutuk]

[SIZE=2]Great post, courtesy of amouzouris on F1Technical.[B]

Hey Ste,thank you very much for this.I have been searching what we did past and we do in present and will do in the future.Before your post here i was confused but now my mind is clear.So the most effective way is to blow at the diffuser isnt it?And the acer tube will be gone or we see it with a modified shape?

[F1NAC]

lol don't quote those images pls . tnx for this review

[Hornet]

Thnaks Ste


I can't wait to see this one if its true

[SIZE=2]
Larger upgrades will be brought in Barcelona next week which i believe will feature the newer sidepods with modified exhausts to deflect the exhaust plume at the diffuser....

[mark p]

I am thinking this as well but Alonso is quoted as saying there are more important things than wasting time on this. History repeats and Ferrari invented periscope exhausts taking the effect away to concentrate on other areas. Seems Lotus do this as well and possibly best car now. Mclaren suffered last race on windy conditions. Maybe the best thing is to keep exhausts aero neutral and concentrate on other areas like we started in late 90's.

[tpe]

I am thinking this as well but Alonso is quoted as saying there are more important things than wasting time on this. History repeats and Ferrari invented periscope exhausts taking the effect away to concentrate on other areas. Seems Lotus do this as well and possibly best car now. Mclaren suffered last race on windy conditions. Maybe the best thing is to keep exhausts aero neutral and concentrate on other areas like we started in late 90's.

+2012 :)
Before season start, in my mind the most logical thing was to build on the periscope exhausts. Ferrari has huge database for that and huge success. If they keep that, I believe that they will build a decent car this year and even better the following years.

[scuderiafan]

Grosjean top speed, Bahrain:
318.1km/h

Alonso top speed Bahrain:
310.7km/h

Grosjean top speed Mugello day 3:
317.8km/h

Alonso top speed Mugello day 3:
315.8km/h

From 7-10 km/h slower in top speed, to about 2.

Sources: http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre...fying-trap.pdf
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/f...e-4856072.html

[gazoz]

From 7-10 km/h slower in top speed, to about 2.

Sources: http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre...fying-trap.pdf
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/f...e-4856072.html

thx for that very interesting indeed does this mean they have the top speed sorted ?

[Naeem]

thx for that very interesting indeed does this mean they have the top speed sorted ?

not necessarily, in Mugello that that speed trap measurement could have been with a slipstream.

[TheProdigalSon]

From 7-10 km/h slower in top speed, to about 2.

Sources: http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre...fying-trap.pdf
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/f...e-4856072.html

Interesting, thanks, great read.

[M.K]

How far I understand we never had problems with top speed, problem was instability. Thats why we had to run with setup which compromises max. speed. to gain some downforce and more stability.

[Gerhard Berger]

How far I understand we never had problems with top speed, problem was instability. Thats why we had to run with setup which compromises max. speed. to gain some downforce and more stability.

Yep, probably our exhaust and diffuser were not generating the downforce they were supposed to. To compensate for that we ran additional rear wing which compromised our top speed.

[NanoTheQuickest]

Looks like the F2012 is going to deliver the goods finally, can't wait for Barcelona!

[Omegablue]

Interesting that McLaren secretly tested a wider and higher nose. Hope it doesn't make them better...

[tpe]

Interesting that McLaren secretly tested a wider and higher nose. Hope it doesn't make them better...

Source??

Edit... Nevermind, found it (f1technical)

[scuderiafan]

Interesting that McLaren secretly tested a wider and higher nose. Hope it doesn't make them better...

Before that nose, I always thought people (mac fans) overrated their nose. Sure it is nicer than the noses we have in f1 now, but nothing special looking. But with that new high nose, I gotta say, not bad for a McLaren, and I am not their biggest fan, let's say.

[TheProdigalSon]

Interesting that McLaren secretly tested a wider and higher nose. Hope it doesn't make them better...

It's a compromise, the rest of the monocoque/bulkhead is still lower than the other teams at this stage to gain the same advantage that they would be getting. I thinks it's good news that they are copying for two reasons, it gives them less time to focus on other areas while other teams catch up and that there low nose approach was wrong.

[F1NAC]

C_3_Media_1474263_immagine_fullw.jpg

[scuderiafan]

yeah, that angle doesnt make it look great. the pic on F1 tech was nice. scratch my pervious post. so, was that just to confirm they didnt need high nose, or is the low nose not working for them? in any case, i want the Ferraris to be looking that them, instead of the wings.

[mark p]

yeah, that angle doesnt make it look great. the pic on F1 tech was nice. scratch my pervious post. so, was that just to confirm they didnt need high nose, or is the low nose not working for them? in any case, i want the Ferraris to be looking that them, instead of the wings.

Possible. They removed the snow plough preseason to likely get more air through. They may well have to scrape as much air as possible as will give more scope for development but still less than the rest as whole monocoque cannot be changed. The much derided Gary Anderson alluded to this ie the low nose compromising mass flow to the detriment of development.

This is why I have confidence in our car as we have the most space under the nose and so most mass flow to play with.

[FrankAlfa]

I think we are seeing the "Aero Model" on the current F1 rules emerging as teams find out what works and what is less effective. If McLaren changes the nose on there race car then there will be some validation to the duck bill shape that is the normal for this year's race cars. We are also seeing more neutral exhaust exit designs to feed the rear diffuser, which several teams are on pretty equal application of this concept. Ferrari are certainly NOT following the pack this year and they have much more variation in their design concepts and their development evolution process. It is a very interesting year of designs and development. I look for a big step by Ferrari in Spain and they should be much closer to the front. I say They should be in the top 4 or 5 in qualifying position and should run closer to the front in the race! I look for Red Bull, Lotus (Renault), Ferrari, McLaren & Mercedes all running close, with Sauber & Williams running close as well!

Ciao.

Forza Ferrari!!!!