F1 Bahrain test: Ferrari's problems in defining the aerodynamic map on first day of testing

Ferrari is working hard on this first day of Formula 1 testing in Bahrain, where all ten teams are striving to increase their understanding of their respective projects. It is a highly competitive context that is difficult to judge, as a myriad of factors create a “smokescreen” over the analyses that can be made. Primarily, we refer to lap times, which at this stage of the pre-season testing session are absolutely meaningless due to variations in internal combustion engine mapping, hybrid system configuration, fuel load, and tire compound differences.

As if that were not enough, the driver can lift off the throttle at any moment to disguise the true lap time. Setting this clarification aside, we can still analyze the car’s behavior on track, observing the drivers’ handling and the fundamental characteristics of the car. However, drawing definitive conclusions before testing at the 5.412-kilometre Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir is complete would be entirely foolish. Not even the engineers themselves will have a full understanding of the car’s true value at this stage, let alone us “mere mortals” who don’t have access to the teams’ resources.

During Ferrari’s first outing, with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel of the SF-25, the Italian car appeared on track fitted with a massive rake on the front section of the car. Positioned just behind the suspension layout, this contraption is used for data collection—crucial information that the team will process throughout testing to update the simulator through comparative trials. It’s worth discussing the use of this equipment, which all teams employ.

With aero rakes, as those fluent in English call them, Ferrari has aimed to reconstruct the pressure field downstream of the front tire. This is an area of an F1 car where significant turbulence is generated, and managing it is crucial for the components further downstream, toward the rear of the car. The pressure data collected is compared with the simulation environment and Computational Fluid Dynamics, a far more accurate system than Flow Viz.

The latter is a special paraffin-based paint that, by contrast, tracks surface flow lines on the car. With this crucial aspect clarified, it is worth noting that the Maranello-based team is testing the pull-rod front suspension, now able to push the system to its full potential for the first time, as the Fiorano shakedown had a speed limit. Now, let’s shift the focus to handling to better understand the behavior of the Italian car in these first four hours of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Lewis Hamilton completed several runs in the morning, mainly using medium tires. Once the team removed the massive rake from the car, the Briton pushed for a few laps before shifting focus to studying the car’s behavior and simulating high-fuel conditions. In this setup, the Ferrari showed a certain instability. Mechanics intervened multiple times at the front to adjust the suspension system. Observing the rear camera footage, as well as wide-angle shots, we noticed a significant amount of sparks.

The Ferrari engineers and technicians opted for a rather low ride height as a starting point. To provide more details, the SF-25 car’s inconsistent behavior was evident. In the third sector, the unstable rear struggled to follow the front end. However, even in corner entry, things were not ideal. Turn 4 presented several issues, where a lack of rotation turned into oversteer on exit. The SF-25 bounced considerably, especially in the rapid direction changes of turns 5-6-7, where Lewis Hamilton struggled a lot, even exceeding track limits.

Of course, Ferrari is in a full experimentation phase. The team is working to establish an initial operating window for the tires. At the same time, by continuously adjusting the setup, they have been trying to record the car’s reactions in all driving phases, both from a mechanical and aerodynamic perspective. Ferrari needs to determine the baseline balance, and to do so, it must experiment. This is also why the car ran with very low ride heights, which in some cases caused the floor to stall.

The goal is to verify the aerodynamic map to define the working window. It is therefore too early to raise an alarm, although it would have been preferable not to encounter such issues. An interesting detail: Lewis Hamilton performed several practice starts, positioning his left hand high up as he did at Mercedes. This suggests that Ferrari has modified its steering wheel to allow him to use this particular clutch release technique. Stay tuned for further analysis in the afternoon session, which will be handled by Charles Leclerc.