The bouncing on the straights is Scuderia Ferrari’s worst enemy. Also at the Imola circuit, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz did not exceed a maximum speed of 300 km / h wall at the speed trap in the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (the Monegasque reached 293.0 km / h), as both drivers complained of the porpoising effect that remains one of the main development problems in pursuit of more performance for the F1-75 car.
Several teams have planned development packages for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona with which they hope to partially fix this annoying phenomenon that affects the aerodynamic efficiency studied at CFD and in the wind tunnel. As Motorsport Italy explained, the research in the wind tunnel is constrained by an air speed limited to 50 m / s, equal to 180 km / h, so it is difficult to identify the standing waves that are generated at high speeds and which generate the nefarious bouncing, that results in sudden variations in downforce as the height from the ground varies.
The more the ground adheres to the asphalt and the greater the vertical load, the more it rises from the track and drops dramatically.
The Red Bull RB18 is indisputably the F1 car with the least porpoising, even if it is not completely immune to it. On the contrary. The retirement of Max Verstappen in Melbourne was caused by a fuel supply pipe that came off (or broke) due to the bouncing effect that caused it to lengthen unnaturally with each rebound, up to the failure that caused a leak of fuel and the start of a fire.
In short, a problem that concerned more how the power unit was put in the car rather than the Honda power unit itself. An issue that had passed the quality checks at the bench but which had manifested itself on the track, confirming how complicated it is to fight this phenomenon despite it being well-known since the early 80s cars.
The Ferrari F1-75 shows a lot of bouncing, but which disappears very quickly before the braking, while the Mercedes porpoising takes it up into the corners with an instability that makes the W13 difficult to drive and set up. According to the technicians of the Brackley team, the bouncing frequency on the silver arrow is higher than that of the F1-75 car, so it would explain why the Ferrari bouncing stops much earlier than the Mercedes one. And it is interesting to note that the causes and effects of porpoising are easily identified, but the solutions cannot be found.
Red Bull on the RB18 has introduced a longitudinal metal bib that follows the trailing edge under the floor: a sort of “skate”. Someone spoke of a “miniskirt”, which is prohibited by the regulation. In reality, it is more likely that it is a small drift that has the task of avoiding the crushing of the pavement to the track, in order to prevent the total seal and, therefore, limit the negative effect of the standing waves. Max Verstappen’s car, therefore, would be able to run with a more constant ground clearance, making the RB18 more balanced and easier to setup than the competition. The detail certainly did not escape the Maranello technicians who adapted the sidewalk of the F1-75 which underneath the first cut in the floor showed a “skid” similar to that of the RB18.
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The image captured by Davide Cavazza during the Pirelli tests at Imola on Wednesday shows that also the second cut (closer to the rear wheel) was no longer rounded in the innermost part, but squared, while in the shaped trailing edge a metal reinforcement was introduced. This was the solution that Carlos Sainz had used in the afternoon, while in the morning on Charles Leclerc’s F1-75 the floor of Bahrain was assembled.
David Sanchez, head of aerodynamics at the Maranello team, wanted to carry out comparative tests (on material already used) to collect data and information that could be useful in Miami.
In addition to the updated rear wing and the power unit updates, Ferrari will also introduce small changes on the floor.
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