Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull are cars characterized by major differences this season. The visual diversity of the external surfaces is the reflection of two opposing philosophies, with the technicians of Maranello and Milton Keynes who have decided to seek performance in different ways.
Among the most clear differences, what stands out is how the RB18 is an incredibly fast car on the straights, while the F1-75 excels in terms of aerodynamic load, as well as traction coming out of the hairpin corners at low speed, where the mechanical grip guaranteed by the suspension helps. However, neither of the two cars is lacking in one area of performance rather than another, as the different behavior was sought by the respective designers, favoring certain aspects to obtain, however, often similar chronometric results.
This is explained by Jock Clear, Ferrari’s Senior Performance Engineer, who spoke to the microphones of Tech Talk, the technical in-depth program produced by Formula 1: “At this stage of the season it is now quite certain that both teams arrived of their solutions in a natural way. There is nothing in our car that is wrong with regards to top speed, just as there is nothing wrong with Red Bull when it comes to slow areas. It is just about people choosing a direction to go, a decision that is made very early in the development path, in August of last year, which is why it is not something that can be changed easily. Obviously, the two different solutions bring similar results in terms of lap time, reaching it however in slightly different ways”. – the Scuderia Ferrari Senior Performance Engineer
Jock Clear also commented on the latest updates introduced on the Ferrari F1-75 car, which from Suzuka is equipped with an updated floor:
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“The main difference is in a very important area, under the rear where the exit section of the Venturi channels is located, where we have what we call the foot plate, in front of the rear wheels, which is extremely sensitive in terms of downforce”. According to Jock Clear, the introduction of the budget cap limit forced teams to review development planning: “In the past, there was a tendency to bring two or three large packages each year. But I think that with the budget situation this year most of the teams have gone more gradually, bringing a piece to one race rather than another, with smaller incremental updates. We don’t see big leaps forward or packages that guarantee half a second per lap, but at every race people bring small details that fit into a package which is now well established at this point of the year”, concluded the British engineer.
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