It was inevitable: in Monaco, the tacit agreement between teams, the FIA, and track personnel to minimize the lifting of cars by recovery vehicles was broken. This was done not only to prevent damage but also, and above all, to make it more difficult to take photos of the most important aerodynamic part of these new-generation cars: the underfloor. It is no coincidence that until Monaco, they were hardly seen, while in the Principality, among many others, the Ferrari floor was also visible. Nevertheless, there was great anticipation from all teams, especially to see the RB19 floor.
“It was truly a Cirque du Soleil performance to see the W14 suspended 50 meters off the ground. However, I believe Red Bull has more to lose than us, especially when it comes to the floor,” rightly pointed out Toto Wolff.
Red Bull has once again given up the peak aerodynamic load generated by the Venturi.
According to an engineer involved in the process, the floor and the mechanics are the most complex components of these new-generation of Formula One cars and where the most significant performance differences come from. It is not surprising that various teams, including Ferrari, have worked from the start to obtain the most detailed images possible of the underfloor of Adrian Newey’s new creation. The floor is not too different from that of the winning car of 2022 but has been further optimized without changing its essence.
As in the specification of the previous season, Red Bull is bringing a highly complex floor to the track, which differs significantly from that of Mercedes and, above all, Ferrari, described by a competitor as “very basic.” Strangely, the team that comes closest to it is Aston Martin. On the RB19, the Venturi tunnel is quite high and set back, which means that Red Bull has once again given up the peak aerodynamic load generated by the tunnels to widen the range of generation depending on the ride height. However, this does not mean that the RB19 does not generate enough aerodynamic load; it simply does it differently, without focusing solely on the theoretical principles of ground effect, which would place the Venturi tunnel as close as possible to the ground.
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On the contrary, the Ferrari SF-23 remains a clearly ground-effect car, with the central part of the Venturi tunnels almost in contact with the asphalt. This forces the Italian team to use stiffer mechanical settings to maintain a higher ride height at higher speeds, under the risk of exceeding the regulated plank wear, especially after the introduction of Technical Directive 39/22. It is also no coincidence that the SF-23 still suffers from bouncing, partly due to the characteristics of its floor and the central section of the Venturi channels being very close to the ground. We will see with the significant evolution that will debut in Barcelona what direction the technicians from Maranello have taken.
“The new Red Bull-style side pods haven’t necessarily brought additional performance. The real secret of these cars lies beneath the floor,” said George Russell on Saturday in Monaco. That secret was revealed precisely on the Monegasque circuit and is one of the macro-characteristics that is allowing Red Bull to dominate this championship. The English car features a floor with a sort of double Venturi effect. The entry of the tunnels is very high, followed immediately by a first narrowing in terms of height, which, however, does not lead to the actual throat of the floor. Instead, it is followed by a vertical widening towards the central part. This is a solution that neither Ferrari nor Mercedes have in their current specifications. The third and fourth forces on the track, in fact, have a more traditional profile with a single throat, while Red Bull has two, one at the front and the true throat shifted further back.
These new-generation cars no longer have the well-known bargeboards, and the lower part of the floor is now more complex. This makes it more difficult to maintain a constant low pressure along the entire floor and prevent the flow from separating and causing losses. The flow tends to detach easily, so there need to be areas where it can be reattached. This is achieved through vortices and continuous distortions of velocity and pressure diagrams. It is no coincidence that the Red Bull floor is the most three-dimensionally worked, with many changes in slope both at the front and rear. These continuous pressure variations throughout the floor allow the flow to maintain its original characteristics, namely a flow that is as fast as possible, without separations, and that properly works the aerodynamic center of pressure, without moving it too far forward or backward, as explained by Formula 1 expert Piergiuseppe Donadoni for the Italian website formu1a.uno.
Many may wonder why other teams, such as Ferrari and Mercedes, have not fully copied the Red Bull floor yet, even though some characteristics, especially regarding the transverse section of the channels, have been replicated, such as the initial narrowing of the keel. Speaking with an engineer from the Milton Keynes team, who was not too concerned about the photographs taken of their underfloor in Monaco, explained that it is easier to work on the transverse section of the channels, while the variations in slope (height) inside the tunnel and the simultaneous generation of vortices are much more complicated. It is an infinite task because a car never operates at a constant height but has many external elements, such as bumps, and dynamic factors like roll, pitch, etc., which greatly complicate the design of the most important aerodynamic component of these new F1 cars. “A more complex floor is not necessarily better because it can also worsen the car’s behavior, but if it works, it is much stronger,” said the Red Bull technician.
Not to mention the other peculiarity of the Red Bull floor, which is a very particular and aggressive diffuser in terms of angles. This feature is necessary to generate the planned stall, aided by the beam wing and the rear wing, along with a mechanical setup that keeps the RB19 firmly planted on the ground even with the DRS open and fewer kilograms pushing the car down. This makes the Anglo-Austrian car incredibly fast in straight-line speed.
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