It was expected in Singapore and it eventually showed up in Japan this weekend. The new Ferrari floor was tested on the F1-75 of Charles Leclerc during free practice at Suzuka, which took place in wet track conditions due to the heavy rain.
The wet conditions did not allow the drivers to fully evaluate their speed, especially in terms of balance, bouncing and tire degradation, but at least it was possible to carry out the first checks in terms of correlation with the wind tunnel and the other tools for design. The floor specification brought by the Maranello team this weekend in Japan follows in order of development the one used since the French Grand Prix and up to Singapore seven days ago, as Ferrari attempted to fix some of its limitations, including excessive aerodynamic drag.
While the Maranello team had structurally modified the Venturi channel at Paul Ricard, the Suzuka update looks like an evolution of the previous version rather than a revolution. The basic setting remains unchanged, with the Venturi inlet section raised on the inside to convey more air to the floor portion leading up to the diffuser. Ferrari therefore did not reject the work done in the first part of the season, seeking instead to refine it further.
At the front, you can see how the outermost and advanced strip of the floor has been thinned towards the other. Ferrari thus seems to focus on the compromise between the deflection of the front turbulence, away from the car body, and the channeling of air under the Venturi area, without excluding a minimum gain in terms of weight, as reported by formulapassion.it after the second free practice session for the 2022 F1 Japanese Grand Prix.
The most interesting changes, however, are concentrated in the rearmost part, immediately in front of the rear wheel. The support rod is now anchored to the floor in a more central position, in correspondence with the exit ramp of the diffuser. At the same time, the surrounding portion of the floor was laminated by changing the orientation of the carbon fiber, which returns to the same inclination at 90 ° with respect to the direction seen in Hungary.
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After the return from the summer break, however, Maranello had chosen a 45 ° value, seen in the races from Spa to last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. Considering the anisotropy of the carbon fiber, i.e. the change in mechanical properties depending on the direction, the modification changes the resistance of the floor to bending. Together with the displacement of the tie rod, one gets the impression that the Maranello team wanted to modify the deformation of the floor and how the floor behaves in terms of ride high at top speeds.
Observing the contours of the area, it can be seen that the changes are limited to the rear, thus avoiding the production of a new floor with attached molds that would have involved a significant economic outlay. However, only the track will be able to determine whether the new version corresponds to an actual step forward of the F1-75.
The goal for Scuderia Ferrari is to regain the competitiveness lost in the summer, to build the 2023 F1 challenger with completely different premises.
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