Photo Credit: Scuderia Ferrari
On the eve of the Austrian GP, Ferrari decided to test aerodynamic innovations, including the floor, front wing and engine cover. Upgrades that got tested in a filming day on Tuesday in Fiorano, awaiting the final resolution.
It was a good weekend, the one of the Canadian GP for Ferrari, given that the Italian team seems to have found the answers to the questions of the last few months. For the first time, the SF-23 had no tyre problems, proving to be fast, consistent and predictable.
An improvement resulting from the developments brought to the track for the Spanish GP which made it possible to expand the window to find speed with the SF-23. Progress that led the technicians of the red to decide to anticipate all the upgrades planned by the summer break.
Developments that will already arrive from the next Austrian GP. They were tested by the Cavallino in a filming day on Tuesday at Fiorano. A day in which the two drivers, as reported by ‘it.motorsport.com‘ , took turns at the wheel of the SF-23 collecting useful data for the technicians to evaluate the new features
“Ferrari has concluded the scheduled Filming Day: Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc shared the 100 km that the regulation allows, […] it was not a day only useful for producing cinema, following the activity there were several technicians who had to evaluate the new aerodynamic package. […] Sainz started shooting with the standard SF-23 to collect data and make a comparison with the tunnel and simulator.”
Innovations that, first of all, concerned the engine cover to manage the cooling of the PU in a different way and not risk it on the Red Bull Ring track where the thin air does not help the drive unit.
“The gills on the sides of the bonnet for heat evacuation were deeper than those seen in Spain and Canada, as the Red Bull Ring is at an altitude of 700 meters, so the air will be thinner and it will be necessary to boost the cooling.”
In addition to the cooling, the front wing has also been revised, taking inspiration from some solutions of the RB19
“A new front wing. The most striking aspect is the shape of the side bulkhead, which is more rounded in the upper part. Not only that, but in pursuit of the out wash effect, the anchoring of the flaps to the endplate has been redesigned. The intention is to bring more flow to the outside of the front wheel […] On the inside of the bulkhead, at the bottom and near the trailing edge, a small horizontal flap has appeared, Red Bull-style. of the out wash effect, the flaps also have a descending trend towards the enplate, with an increase in the chord of the portion of the wing close to the nose.The main profile shows a new spoon, and the most important modification is that the chord has been reduced for a second, larger element.”
Among all the developments tested, there are also some new features regarding the PU mappings, useful for extracting more power and better managing the tires during acceleration.
“The most interesting innovations concerned the front part of the floor. The most external deflector is new, which must control the turbulence of the front wheel more effectively. […] Ferrari has embarked on a development path in the direction of the Red Bull and did not hesitate to copy details of the RB19: the fences that divide the mouths of the Venturi channels are positioned differently and, above all, protrude from the floor.”
