Scuderia Ferrari, just like most of the Formula 1 teams, were struggling at times with excessive car bouncing down the main straight of the Circuit de Catalunya during the first pre-season testing session whick took place in Barcelona last month, and a video posted by Formula 1 on its official social media accounts perfectly illustrated the phenomenon as Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc was experiencing it especially on the first day.
To counteract the aerodynamic effect of porpoising, several factors come into play, both mechanical and aerodynamic. For the teams it was important to discover how a combination of these could remove (or bring closer) the trigger of the phenomenon on their car. Mclaren is the team that got there first. Ferrari immediately after, as explained by formu1a.uno in a recent report by Piergiuseppe Donadoni and Giuliano Duchessa.
Not surprisingly, the Maranello team took inspiration from the floor of the McLaren MCL36 car, bringing an unscheduled update to the track during the last day of testing. On the F1-75 challenger a change was made in the rear part of the floor. In a different way, but with a similar objective to Mclaren, Scuderia Ferrari has attempted to energize the external parts in the area where the section is minimal between the floor and the ground, that is, where the flow ‘separates’ and causes the car to lose downforce all of a sudden.
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While on the McLaren MCL36 a blowing has been created in the upper part, which works in symbiosis with the front upper element, Ferrari has chosen a simpler way (being a modification carried out directly on the circuit) with the curved cut of the floor coupled to a further profile in inferior part. A more ‘definitive’ floor version will be brought to the track next week in the Bahrain tests.
The porpoising phenomenon will hardly go away completely as it is purely ‘physical’ and intrinsic in this new type of ground-effect cars. “There will always be some reaction from the car due to its proximity to the ground,” said James Key, McLaren’s Techincal Director, at the end of the testing session in Barcelona – “I don’t think we’ll get rid of it completely because it’s a matter of physics but, after some development work, it will be much less problematic to manage”.
Scuderia Ferrari Team principal Mattia Binotto confirmed the floor fix was effective, while not directly pointing out to this solution: “On the bouncing, I think it was an issue but it’s not any more. If we’re looking at this on Thursday afternoon and earlier on Friday, I think we are bouncing a lot less. And somehow we are managing the situation.”
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