Ferrari is currently the benchmark for ground-effect 2022 Formula 1 cars. The paddock talks about the extreme concept of Mercedes, but for the moment the Maranello team sets the pace in the pre-season testing session which is taking place at the Bahrain International circuit: Charles Leclerc with a set of C3 tires, the softer compound that will be used in the 2022 Bahrain GP, brought the F1-75 car to the top of the timesheet with great ease.
The Ferrari car is essentially the same one we saw in Barcelona, except for the floor: the Maranello team is working hard to solve the problem of bouncing on the straight, aware that whoever find the solution first can have a great competitive advantage.
On the SF-75 we saw a third floor specification solution appear which was assembled earlier today. And the aspect that emerges is that the Maraenello technicians do not have too many problems in copying the ideas of the competition.
The photo taken by Giorgio Piola, a much-celebrated figure within the Formula 1 paddock, shows us the inside of the Ferrari again without the bodywork of the sidepod, but the aspect to keep in mind is the outer edge of the floor which has adopted a concept that McLaren had introduced in Barcelona.
The MCL36 in Spain immediately seemed to be the car that suffered the least from the porpoising phenomenon, a sign that the horizontal profile, which is slightly raised from the ground thanks to four supports, is able to limit the stationary forces that are generated at high speeds. Ferrari also widened the vent in front of the rear wheel following the concepts developed by James Key’s staff.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma!
The Scuderia doesn’t mind copying competitor ideas that can work. Already at the presentation of the F1-75 Mattia Bonotto had admitted that the aerodynamicists led by Chief Engineer David Sanchez did not have any problems in copying the double profile T-tray from the Aston Martin AMR22. The flow diverter has remained on the red car for the second day of testing in Bahrain, which is a sign that it works.
They do well in Maranello not to have problems with copying solutions from other teams, because competitiveness will also be found by merging into the concepts that work and that you tend to better understand as the season progresses.
Leave a Reply