The aerodynamic trend of the 2024 single-seaters will converge on concepts inspired by the championship-winning Red Bull, even though Maranello has not designed a copy of the RB19. Want an example? The red car will retain the “by-pass duct,” the passage of air that redirects the flow above the underbelly channeled from beneath the radiator inlet. At the Scuderia, they aimed to achieve the same goal as Newey with a solution that remains distinct.
The Ferrari 676 won’t be a replica of the Red Bull RB19, even though engineers led by Enrico Cardile have not hidden their intention to follow some concepts proposed by Adrian Newey. This represents a convergence in technical choices moving toward solutions that deliver enhanced performance.
The aerodynamic direction favoring Red Bull’s sloping sidepods will be adopted by all teams. Ferrari has abandoned the “fish tank” on the upper part of the sidepods, just as Mercedes has rejected the black “zero pods” arrow that troubled them for two years.
What will the red car that we will see on February 13th at Fiorano look like? There is much curiosity because it will be the first true car under Fred Vasseur’s management. There is great anticipation, although no one in Maranello dares to make extravagant predictions after last year’s reality check when, after a seemingly championship-worthy presentation, the SF-23 turned out to be uncompetitive from the first laps on the track.
Dealing with a grounded and realistic Ferrari, aware of its potential but uncertain about what may have been achieved in Milton Keynes with Pierre Waché and others interpreting Newey’s ideas. The 676, free from the mistakes of the SF-23, should represent a significant step forward, but predicting where it can reach is challenging today. The goal is certainly to win more than just the single GP that Carlos Sainz snatched in Singapore from the reigning world champions.
The profile of the red car is starting to define the character of the new car: a new chassis with different suspension mounts (but with the same push front and pull rear scheme) and, notably, the relocation of the lower part of the lower intrusion cone. The front section of the chassis is not expected to be squared off at the bottom but should introduce a sort of keel to increase the airflow to the Venturi channels.
The gearbox will be housed in a new slightly shorter and decidedly narrower transmission case (20 mm on each side) to have a larger diffuser, capable of generating more downforce with the car body, perhaps reducing the incidence of the wings.
But one element confirming the free thinking of the Maranello aerodynamicists, led by Diego Tondi, will be the confirmation of the “by-pass duct,” the passage of air that redirects the flow above the underbelly, channeled from the vertical inlet adhering to the chassis, from the bottom to the radiator inlet.
The idea is indeed “Maranello’s” since the original dates back to 2008 when Aldo Costa, under the technical direction of Mario Almondo, introduced the “hole in the nose,” a large blowhole that, thanks to an S-shaped duct, directed the flow to the upper part of the chassis, accelerating the flows coming from the front of the single-seater. The FIA blocked this idea the following year, but the concept had been internalized and copied by everyone with the “letterbox” that became the norm.
Why do we venture to say that Ferrari pursues its own aerodynamic concept? The reason is simple: Newey’s idea is to bring as much air as possible to the underbody, exploiting an extreme undercut in the sidepod shapes, while Tondi & co. catch the flow skimming the chassis and with a… periscope, bring it above the underbelly. The goal is to achieve the same result, more aerodynamic efficiency, but with different solutions.
Last year, none of the rivals dared to copy the “by-pass duct,” but in Maranello, they have endorsed this solution for the 2024 car, a sign that some advantage in the wind tunnel must be evident. We await February 13th…
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