At the filming day that Ferrari did in Monza last week, Mattia Binotto , the team boss, was present, who followed the work on the Brianza track closely. Meanwhile, not far from there, in Maranello, the Scuderia was working against the clock to finish the upgrade package that Ferrari will bring to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Scuderia will introduce in Montmeló the first great evolution of the F1-75 to try to stop the improvements of Red Bull, which with the RB18 and Max Verstappen at the wheel have won the last two races, held in Imola and Miami.
In Florida, the time difference with Milton Keynes was quantified at a couple of tenths, so you can expect Ferrari’s step forward to be three or four tenths. This would be an important leap for the Italians in a modern Formula 1 in which improvements can be counted in thousandths.
However, Ferrari should not suffer from this problem, since the changes to be made are remarkable. In Maranello they have touched all the neuralgic points of their car: flat bottom, pontoons, wings and brake lines. In addition to, of course, a weight loss that brings them closer to the regulatory minimum of 798 kg.
The flat bottom of the F1-75 that was tested in FP1 in Melbourne
The new flat bottom of the Ferrari has been designed to limit the negative effects caused by porpoising . This bounce, which occurs at high speeds, causes a loss of downforce and therefore performance. With this solution, in Maranello they could afford a set-up that brings the car closer to the ground, and that it can take advantage of the downforce it generates.
The development work has been carried out on the basis of the flat bottom that was tested in FP1 at the Australian GP, with a narrower extractor in the central part and with a different air outlet on the edge with a square design and possibly with a metallic skid inside. This piece was the one that caused so much controversy among the rest of the teams during the Pirelli tests with the tires that will be used in 2023.
The pontoons of the F1-75 will be less bulky in the 2022 Spanish GP
The sidepods have also undergone a major overhaul at the factory. Unlike Aston Martin, which will give up the double bottom to move to a concept with steeper bellies, Red Bull style, Ferrari will not modify the upper gap, but will have slightly narrower sidepods.
The shape of the car will not change, but the section will be smaller in order to reduce both drag and weight. In short, it is a ‘cleaning’ action, after evaluating the competition.
Ferrari F1-75 rear wing comparison
Changes to the rear wing have been discussed previously, while the study on how to stabilize tire temperatures throughout a run as a function of weather variations is ongoing.
Ferraris often need two laps of preparation to get the tires into the right temperature window for them to work properly, but they also need to make sure it retains heat in the corners to ensure the tires have the energy they need. to transfer it to the track.
F1-75 steering arm carbon cover changed in Miami
This area around the tires is an area of development that involves not only the brake lines , but also the front suspension, which could be modified. Already in Miami we could see that the steering arm had a different carbon cover, in order to change the flow pattern of the air current created by the upper triangle.
Ferrari is putting its cards on the table to defend and, perhaps, consolidate its advantage in the two classifications, responding to Red Bull with technical solutions to improve the potential of the F1-75. The development war is reaching a critical point…
