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It passed like a normal “rake” and not much attention was paid to the tool that Ferrari mounted behind the rear wheels of Sebastian Vettel’s SF1000 during the first free practice session of the Abu Dhabi GP.
It did not attract much attention because we are used to seeing real “castles” appear in the first minutes of Friday’s session full of useful sensors to collect data from the track to verify that there is a perfect correlation with the work done in the wind tunnel and the CFD.
All teams have been equipped with increasingly advanced tools to gather useful information for the development of the car: each team has created solutions to investigate the behavior of its F1 at a constant speed at the aerodynamic level.
So far we’ve seen the emergence of ever-larger rakes packed with sensors and Pitot tubes to measure air speed at the most crucial points in F1, namely behind the front wheels and in front of and behind the rear.
Ferrari at Yas Marina used for the first time a new detection system that does not define a sensor network, but investigates the quality of the flow over a very large area.
The way data is detected has changed, orienting the Pitot tubes and probes, which are pressure sensors, based on what should be the trend of individual flows coming out of the rear diffuser. Cavallino technicians used solutions from the aeronautical industry mounted on a very complex structure almost certainly made from Quick Prototype.
The four elements that support the “castle” (presumably in aluminum alloy) on each side are twisted in aerodynamic shapes to offer the least drag. Each support is hollow and inside the connections pass that carry the signals to those black boxes that are capable of transmitting the information to the telemetry of the boxes and to the remote garage.
Behind this plant there is an incredible study and an amazing expense, but when it is necessary to recover some ground on the path of competitiveness it is normal that all opportunities are explored before the Budget cap comes into operation that will limit expenses to 145 million. dollars as of 2021.
One fact is striking: in this year’s Red we have not seen any innovative ideas appear that would justify a significant jump in the quality of the SF1000. The rake that made its appearance in Abu Dhabi, on the other hand, represents something never seen in F1 that caught the attention of all the technicians present in the paddock because it represents a new state of the art.
Because if someone has “branded” the Ferrari idea as going to seek the “sex of angels” in the aerodynamic field, others have wondered, however, if the research initiated by the Maranello engineers should yield qualitative results. . tangible, then we could look forward to a Scuderia capable of producing truly state-of-the-art machines in the future.
Is this a sign that a quiet revolution in Sports Management is taking place with the adaptation not only of the factory (the new simulator is expected, which will be among the most innovative in F1) but also of the tools towards the road? of competitiveness?
If so, the car will only be the last element to benefit from this chain of innovations, but perhaps we can begin to understand why in Maranello they insist so much in saying that the redemption of Ferrari can only begin in 2022, when the new system in the Reparto Corse will be fully operational with the introduction of ground effect cars, restoring current values.
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000 with rear sensors
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Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000 with rear sensors
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Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000 with rear sensors
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Photo by: Giorgio Piola
