The updates introduced on the F1-75 in Spain allowed Ferrari to reduce the small gap that had opened with Red Bull, especially in racing conditions. Then there is the track factor. On those more heavily loaded, Ferrari manages to perform better than a more efficient, at least up to Miami, Red Bull RB18.
The bitter disappointments that have arrived on these two Sundays are however the result of completely different situations. It is difficult to say which of the two is worse, or less worse.
From a technical point of view, the retirement that took place in Spain for reasons related to reliability is certainly important, especially in an F1 where turbo-hybrid units are limited. On the other hand, Red Bull also had problems related to reliability, while from a strategic point of view the men of Milton Keynes were better.
In terms of classification, Barcelona’s zero points affects the standings, especially since at that time Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari was dominating the Grand Prix.
What happened in Monaco, on the other hand, was the result of multiple strategic errors on the part of the Ferrari pit wall. The variable represented by rain was certainly not well-liked by Ferrari, which certainly did not wish for a crazy race given the fact that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were on the front row.
The essence is that in two events in which Ferrari proved superior to Red Bull, it was the latter who took home the victories.
The updates brought by Ferrari to Spain produced the performance counter-overtake
The concentrated package of updates seen in Spain on the F1-75 has given new light to a slightly more “opaque” Ferrari between Imola and Miami. The technical gap with Newey’s car was however small, Mattia Binotto had quantified it in a maximum of 2 tenths, and it is always the details that make the difference.
Having said that, the important amount of innovations mounted in Spain gave the desired results, giving more aerodynamic efficiency and above all reducing aerodynamic bouncing, as explained by Rosario Giuliana for formu1a.uno.
The most important update is certainly the one located under the floor and the venturi tunnels, where Ferrari has focused a lot of its development resources in the Maranello Factory to try to polish even more the excellent design base available to it this season. The area on which Ferrari has planned to intervene is the most sensitive area of this new era of single-seaters, namely the entire floor.
In Spain, the floor has been revised in several macro areas, both in the entrance area of the venturi channels (conveying a more manageable flow) and in the rear area (to reduce porpoising and increase the efficiency of the diffuser). It is very important that the entire package of changes has worked, in a season in which many have the doubt of being able to fall within the limits of the budget cap, also due to the inflation that is enveloping European countries.
The inlet area has revised a modification of the shape of both the inlet, with a different shape compared to the version at the beginning of the season, and with the modification of the external flow conveyor, more pronounced in the advanced area in the new specification.
The new diffuser that had been glimpsed in the first hour of free practice in Australia made its debut in a definitive version, different in the central area compared to the old specification.
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However, the changes were not finalized because, as anticipated during the Barcelona weekend, the most important update was under the floor itself, and not in the hole located on the outer edges of the floor. We are talking about the design of the venturi ducts, combined with the new diffuser, which have an important and unprecedented modification of the central area of the keel, with a ramp designed to increase the flow volume of the ducts, increasing the load generated by the diffuser.
It is a modification that works with the antiporpoising hole. While the hole ‘discharges’ part of the flow in the external area to avoid the aerodynamic stall that generates the triggering of the hopping, the ramp creates a certain outwash that allows for further flow to be recalled in the central part.
Ferrari has returned to a solution more similar to the basic specification seen in the first rounds of tests in Bahrain, with a single hole in the floor without the use of the “knife” flow conveyor
This modification also included the redesign of the anti-porpoising hole, which discharges part of the flow in the area outside the venturi tunnel, to avoid triggering the aerodynamic rebound beyond certain speed ranges. A thick element has been added to it in the lower part, which acts as a real pad to prevent the floor from touching and bending due to the “vacuum effect” generated by the pressure difference.
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