Scuderia Ferrari, in Formula 1, is currently undergoing the learning curve necessary to return to greatness. This statement in the beginning of the article is not thrown there by chance. On the contrary, they perfectly describe the main target of the great work achieved by team principal Frederic Vasseur. Making comparisons is always a bit unpleasant. We agree. However, it is hard not to notice the difference with his predecessor, namely Mattia Binotto. The managerial skills of the French French motorsport engineer emerged gradually, and according to information reported by the Italian, Ferrari president John Elkann is deeply impressed by the work done by the Frenchman in his first year at the top of the Ferrari Racing Division.
Fred Vasseur has rallied a group that was crumbling. As soon as he arrived in Maranello, he scrutinized everything and everyone. He did so through in-depth analysis of every single area of the Italian team, with the clear objective of identifying problems and defects to correct them in the next phase. Determining, therefore, the quantity and specificity of the new engineers who set foot in Maranello. A new influx capable of enhancing various sectors of the Ferrari Racing Division, because the technical group led by former team principal Mattia Binotto was outdated, stagnant, and no longer motivated.
Several areas have undergone a restyling process, while the aerodynamic department has been adequately bolstered. In Formula 1, there is always a tendency to credit the individual. We are always ready, in fact, to praise the qualities of a technical director, forgetting that the working group he leads is often the one that comes up with winning ideas, implements them and makes them work. For this reason, the Frenchman wanted fresh minds, not “poisoned” by recent failures. People ready to innovate and find effective solutions to improve the overall result. In this regard, the swarm of engineers led by the excellent Italian aerodynamicist Enrico Cardile hit the mark.
This is demonstrated by the car produced by the Prancing Horse, an SF-24 single-seater which is clearly distant as compared to its predecessor. A stable, drivable car, decidedly kinder on the Pirelli tires. A project, the known as 676, capable of creating a car with extreme rationality, a basis for upcoming interventions that between the Japanese Grand Prix and the Imola weekend will see the arrival of various more aggressive updates to enhance the competitive level and, with hopes in hand, shave off at least 3 tenths from the stopwatch to try to get closer and closer to the rock-solid Red Bull RB20.
F1 | Ferrari: the accelerated learning curve between electronics and simulation
During the past Formula 1 season, several individuals crossed the threshold of Maranello. We have already said this. What we have not emphasized are the fields of work they occupied. One of these refers to the electronic field, a decidedly important sector of the factory in administering the various components of the car. One of the merits attributed to the engine department led by Italian engineer Enrico Gualtieri, Ferrari’s technical director Power Unit, concerns the ability to maximize the efficiency of the hybrid system of power unit 066/10.
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We are talking about a truly remarkable power unit concerning its internal combustion unit part, which, however, in terms of the hybrid aspect, still had a certain gap compared to Red Bull. For this reason, a deep study was carried out that, through several corrections granted using some concessions from the International Federation, increased the efficiency of the motor-generators, MGU-K and MGH-H, as well as the charging and discharging phase of the battery packs. A measure that we experienced firsthand by examining the on-boards aboard the SF-24 car, as the productivity of the system has increased considerably.
The ability to distribute the approximately 160 horsepower recovered between kinetic energy and enthalpy of the exhaust gases has provided a significant performance boost. Moreover, the ability to transfer to the ground the horsepower produced by the internal combustion engine has improved, providing superior and more docile maximum output. All this through new software capable of maximizing efficiency and, simultaneously, offering higher reliability. The latter point, strongly evaluated during the last months, is confirming with excellent feedback the positive results of the work done by the Maranello technicians.
Furthermore, artificial intelligence must not be forgotten. We refer to the science that in Formula 1 allows finding patterns through the management of the infinite amount of data collected on the track. In this regard, thanks to “reinforcement learning,” Ferrari has made several strides forward in the last year. We are talking about a method that can label the collected data by itself, judging them suitable or not. An advanced technique that takes care of “training the model” through self-learning. A practice that has greatly nourished the learning curve towards the complex behaviors of the car, successfully used to correct the incorrect settings of the SF-23 car.
Last but not least, especially nowadays, we must talk about simulation. A hypothetical field that reproduces in the virtual sphere what will then be tested in reality. The strengthening of this department has provided a lot of confidence to the Prancing Horse, now capable of finding a match in the fundamental correlation between simulator and data collected from the track. And we are not only referring to the area that deals with updates, but also to the ability to build the most suitable setup to optimize the car’s performance on any type of track layout.
The key test, to give a practical example, concerns the choice of the rear load adopted for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah circuit. A decision that turned out to be factual despite the level of vertical thrust produced being higher than the rest of the opponents. The Italian car was able to produce the desired downforce and, at the same time, thanks to the optimization of the power unit in terms of hybrid system, never be short of energy on the long straights of the Jeddah circuit, also reaching competitive top speeds considering the generated downforce.
The amount of information correctly learned and the time required for learning: an equation that the historic Italian team can currently manage with greater capacity than in the recent past. The path to success is still long for Ferrari, let’s be clear. However, the results obtained over the last six months are truly encouraging in this regard. After all, “technical aggressiveness” only works if those who put it into practice firmly have the tools used in their hands, to avoid hypothetical misleading fields that on more than one occasion, see the 2023 Formula 1 car, have led to errors in judgment.
Source: Alessandro Arcari for FUnoanalisitecnica
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