Pre-Season Testing [Bahrain]

[airshifter]

Did anyone notice the Ferrari rotating wing? :-()

Yeah, crafty stuff. I'm not sure if it will prove to be any advantage, and some claim they had some reliability problems with it. It seems to me that it might be great for the straight, but be slower to create downforce again when it closes. But it's still pretty quick, so maybe it won't leave the rear end too light for harvesting, since some lift and coast will take place on many long straights.

I'm curious to see if they use that method at all, or only part of the time, in the first races.



For those that haven't seen it....

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/re...57923409239501




That and the aero flip up behind the exhaust show that Ferrari are working hard to get things right. It is claimed that the aero flip up won't be easy for others to copy, as the position relates to the differential which Ferrari worked hard to move as far back as possible. Others might be able to do it, but it won't be an easy, quick, or cheap copy to make.

[Nitrodaze]

Yeah, crafty stuff. I'm not sure if it will prove to be any advantage, and some claim they had some reliability problems with it. It seems to me that it might be great for the straight, but be slower to create downforce again when it closes. But it's still pretty quick, so maybe it won't leave the rear end too light for harvesting, since some lift and coast will take place on many long straights.

I'm curious to see if they use that method at all, or only part of the time, in the first races.



For those that haven't seen it....

https://www.formula1.com/en/video/re...57923409239501




That and the aero flip up behind the exhaust show that Ferrari are working hard to get things right. It is claimed that the aero flip up won't be easy for others to copy, as the position relates to the differential which Ferrari worked hard to move as far back as possible. Others might be able to do it, but it won't be an easy, quick, or cheap copy to make.

I think most people look at the rotating wing in isolation and see drag and loss of downforce. What they fail to see is the combined effect of the little wing in front of the exhaust and the rotating wing. The hot gases from the exhaust is lifted upwards into the path of the airflow under the rotating wing, energising the flow under the wing, creating a massive pressure difference between the flow above the wing while open and the flow under the wing. This pressure difference may cause the wing to act like and upside down aerofoil, causing downforce rather than lift, which most people think is happening.

The gaping aperture that it creates when open allows a large volume of airflow to rush through under the wing and is accelerated by the hot gases from the exhaust. The velocity difference between the airflow under the wing and the airflow over the wing generates a massive pressure difference, with the effect that the under part of the wing has a suction pulling the rear wing downwards, causing both drag and increased downforce as the car slows into a corner, in theory.

This Ferrari idea would be very hard to copy. I think teams would be up in arms about this gizmo after three races, when they have seen the clear advantage gained from this device.

It is a majestic innovation. I think Ferrari has been hiding their true pace like Mercedes has been doing. There might not be anything in it between Mercedes and Ferrari over a whole lap. Assuming Ferrari has also made the necessary changes to their race operations, they are looking very much like the real deal at the mo.

[Nitrodaze]

The Ferrari race start is blindingly quick. The Melbourne race is going to be very interesting. I can see the Ferrari being the first car round the first corner at most races in the first half of the season at least.