Scuderia Ferrari SF16-H Development thread.

[Winter]

I guess this time Merc won't go with medium for the race. That would be really bold from them without even trying it in the practice. So their strategy is kind of given. That's good for us I guess.

Yes, I guess Mercs choice is all about them lacking miles with softer compounds. They need to get laps with them at some point..

[TigerKing]

Maybe we're going for a one stop medium/soft whereas Mercedes go for an aggressive ss/ss/soft?

[mhmalik]

Maybe we're going for a one stop medium/soft whereas Mercedes go for an aggressive ss/ss/soft?

We cant go for one stop. We will surely be in top 10 starting with SS and then we might go for Ss and meds on a two stpp strategy

[Nand0Nand0]

I suspect the extra mediums will be used to ensure more running time on Friday - to test new parts and to gather more data on the medium tire.

I suspect we will start on the SS, if we can manage 2 stints on SS then that's what we will go for and finish on softs, otherwise it will be SS followed by S then S.

[F1NAC]

I think it will be ss-m-ss

[PURE PASSION]

Μaybe we indeed need this sets of mediums to test the upgrades MA mentioned,and we are confident we will not need to use so many sets of softer stets in Q!!!

[mizf1]

Considering the fact we didnt put much updates on the car throught testing and the Austrailian GP, i'm optimistic for this season. We might have finished 3rd in OZ but lets not forget the fact we finished on Hamiltons gearbox even after making an extra pit stop.

Also we still have possibly s duct, shorter nose and the general finer details of the car that needs refining. Also Merc believe we didn't run our engine 100% which Mark Hughes (sky) also believes was the case.

Last year we were much further away from Mercs but in Bahrain Kimi would have possibly won the race if it was a few laps longer, this year I think we can take the fight to the Mercs and now i know what Vettel meant about we have the potential to beat them but not there just yet( the items I mentioned above)

Once we have eveything in place our car should be a winner if it is already causing Merc issues now during the race, we just need to bridge the quali gap now so we. Ontrol the race from the front

[abbottcostello]

Biggest update will be the fuel from Shell, need that to turn up PU any higher!

Other updates probably smaller gains, but important eye candy for us fans.

[zamlatuljko]

Aparently Ferrari is used weaker PU in Australia, some Merch Engeneers says that Ferrari had much more powerfull unit in Testing.

Maybe they in Bahrrein would race much better.

Also in Australia

2015 we were 1.4 sec out of pole
2016 we were 0.8 sec out of pole

Bahrein

2015 we were 0.8 sec out of pole
2016 we gonna be 0.3 sec??

I know this is big speculation, also different tires..cant wait next weekend

[darkchild]

Seb was 0.4 of pole in 2015

[jragona]

Aparently Ferrari is used weaker PU in Australia, some Merch Engeneers says that Ferrari had much more powerfull unit in Testing.

How could they know that, are they comparing the noise and drawing conclusions?

[PURE PASSION]

How could they know that, are they comparing the noise and drawing conclusions?

I think it has to do with something about the accelerations from the gps data.

[jragona]

I think it has to do with something about the accelerations from the gps data.

Must be hard to tell, downforce levels would affect this substantially. Australia would be higher downforce than Barcelona I think.

[bondilad]

'Ferrari could challenge Mercedes for victory in Bahrain'

Last year Ferrari qualified 1.4s slower than Mercedes around Melbourne. This time Ferrari qualified within 0.8s of the Mercedes pole time.

Furthermore, last year Albert Park was the furthest off the pace Ferrari qualified all year (when expressed as a percentage). Although race two of 2015 was in Malaysia (placed much later in the 2016 calendar), at race three in Bahrain, the Ferrari qualifying deficit to Mercedes was down to 0.905s.

Essentially, the Ferrari was around 0.5s per lap more competitive in Bahrain qualifying than it had been in Australia. If (an important if) the switch of tracks finds the same benefit for Ferrari this time around, it would suggest a Mercedes qualifying advantage in Bahrain of no more than 0.3s.

There is potentially another similarity too. Last year, Ferrari ran their power units quite conservatively in Melbourne. But from Malaysia onwards through Bahrain and China, they felt confident enough to turn them up - and in those races they were at least on a par with Mercedes for race day horsepower, possibly even slightly ahead (this was before the Spain clarification on fuel flow interpretation).

In Melbourne this year, Ferrari again was carefully managing their power units during the race. Kimi Raikkonen in particular could be observed varying the amount of electrical deployment, according to how defensive he needed to be.

Something was giving Ferrari concern about being able to run with full deployment for extended periods. It's possible this was connected to Raikkonen's turbo issues that subsequently forced him to retire, but Mercedes engineers looking at the numbers suspect that Ferrari were running their engines less aggressively than in Barcelona testing.
If this was related to a specific reliability worry Ferrari had over a component and it can be resolved by the next race, then a return to full power in Bahrain could well be enough to allow Ferrari to fight Mercedes on pure performance - on race day at least.

But longer term, a major focus of Ferrari's attention will be on matching the power Mercedes have available for short bursts during qualifying. These extra engine modes are extremely potent and Mercedes development work during the winter - centred around extending the duration of combustion, thereby moving the detonation threshold yet further back, allowing more power for longer - has allowed them to become even more so.

More than ever in the hybrid era, such developments have to be made jointly with the engine department, the fuel supplier and spark plug manufacturer. Although Ferrari appear to have a car capable of racing the Mercs, a breakthrough in qualifying performance is going to be needed before the Scuderia can control their races from the front, rather than relying on better starts or strategy to get them there.

Yet even if they fail to make that step change this year, if they can regularly challenge the silver arrows, the respective dynamics of the driver line-ups of each team might yet offer Ferrari a realistic hope of stealing the title. Vettel is much more clearly a team No 1 than either of the Mercedes drivers. If - as happened in both 2014 and '15 - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg takes points from each other while Vettel consistently finishes ahead of Raikkonen, it could be the crucial differentiator.

Last year the Ferrari wasn't quite fast enough to make that matter. This year, it just might be.

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/124...ory-in-bahrain

But Ferraris qualifying deficit wasn't 0.905 seconds in Bahrain last year, it was less than 4 tenths.

[S1000RR]

There is a rumour on Dutch F1today site that the SF-16H has a system or technology called HCCI which helps them to "superstart". It has to do with loads of torque in the low RPM area and is known for engine vibrations

Can't find it on the German/English sites but here is some info from a guy on Reddit:
Ferrari had a great start in Melbourne, and that wasn't entirely because Lewis had a less than excellent start. It looked like they had excellent torque available immediately. The same torque was noticable in corner sections and when Vettel pressed the pedal the power was immediately there.

There have been rumors that Ferrari managed in applying HCCI on their power unit. In the concept fuel is - like with a diesel engine - detonated by pressure instead of a spark plug resulting in more fuel efficiency and more torque on lower rpm.

Additionaly there are a few videos which appear to show the HCCI signature sound. https://youtu.be/YzHHbPQLyXE at 17:41 https://youtu.be/VYn5h9a53SE between 31-33s

And on the testing days in Barcelona both Haas and Ferrari experienced quite a few issues with excessive vibrations which upon were played down by Ferrari.

[Silent Bob]

I don't think HCCI would be used on takeoff from a standing start. it's more for fuel efficiency.

[S1000RR]

I don't think HCCI would be used on takeoff from a standing start. it's more for fuel efficiency.

I'm no engineer but a Dutch engineer who works on crankshafts for the Jaguar diesel engines wrote (google translated from Dutch to English)
What Ferrari here mainly do is make use of spontaneous combustion of fuel in a controlled manner. Spontaneous combustion (which is the rule for diesel engines) provides much higher combustion pressures and therefore more torque at lower revs. We tried before to keep the two forms (gasoline and diesel) of inflammation separated. Still, several car manufacturers have already begun (particularly with Mazda SKYACTIV) to throw gasoline engine compression ratios up and trying by means variable ignition timing to use controlled spontaneous combustion in gasoline engines. This is exactly what Ferrari introduced here. By using multiple injections per combustion cycle can arrange spontaneous combustion in gasoline engines (you then ensures that the first bit of gasoline continues lighting the newly injected gasoline). Then will use Ferrari for inflammation and may bring forward the opening exhaust valves to return to conventional combustion at higher speeds.

[abbottcostello]

There is a rumour on Dutch F1today site that the SF-16H has a system or technology called HCCI which helps them to "superstart". It has to do with loads of torque in the low RPM area and is known for engine vibrations

Can't find it on the German/English sites but here is some info from a guy on Reddit:
Ferrari had a great start in Melbourne, and that wasn't entirely because Lewis had a less than excellent start. It looked like they had excellent torque available immediately. The same torque was noticable in corner sections and when Vettel pressed the pedal the power was immediately there.

There have been rumors that Ferrari managed in applying HCCI on their power unit. In the concept fuel is - like with a diesel engine - detonated by pressure instead of a spark plug resulting in more fuel efficiency and more torque on lower rpm.

Additionaly there are a few videos which appear to show the HCCI signature sound. https://youtu.be/YzHHbPQLyXE at 17:41 https://youtu.be/VYn5h9a53SE between 31-33s

And on the testing days in Barcelona both Haas and Ferrari experienced quite a few issues with excessive vibrations which upon were played down by Ferrari.

That's what I have read as well. Can't remember where though, but it was well before testing. Some are calling it diesotto, it runs like a conventional internal combustion engine (Otto) at full throttle and at partial throttle runs in diesel mode according to article. Merc already had this in their qualy mode from last year. They even had a link to Merc patent to a form of this in 1996, I tried to read it, kept getting lost in the technicality of the wording, though that is what it seemed to be referring to.

Will se if I can find where I saw this.

[darkchild]

I'm no engineer but a Dutch engineer who works on crankshafts for the Jaguar diesel engines wrote (google translated from Dutch to English)
What Ferrari here mainly do is make use of spontaneous combustion of fuel in a controlled manner. Spontaneous combustion (which is the rule for diesel engines) provides much higher combustion pressures and therefore more torque at lower revs. We tried before to keep the two forms (gasoline and diesel) of inflammation separated. Still, several car manufacturers have already begun (particularly with Mazda SKYACTIV) to throw gasoline engine compression ratios up and trying by means variable ignition timing to use controlled spontaneous combustion in gasoline engines. This is exactly what Ferrari introduced here. By using multiple injections per combustion cycle can arrange spontaneous combustion in gasoline engines (you then ensures that the first bit of gasoline continues lighting the newly injected gasoline). Then will use Ferrari for inflammation and may bring forward the opening exhaust valves to return to conventional combustion at higher speeds.

Can you link it?

[S1000RR]

Can you link it?

http://www.f1today.net/nl/nieuws/f1/...-sterke-starts

this is the Dutch article, on the bottom of the comments you will find user senzei de haas

[S1000RR]

Speculated before on the F1technical forum:http://www.f1technical.net/forum/vie...21958&start=90

and came across this link: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/te...-hopes-668712/

[bondilad]

Kimi's engine is ok. He'll use the same engine used in Melbourne

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ra...ahrain-682029/

[Silent Bob]

I'm no engineer but a Dutch engineer who works on crankshafts for the Jaguar diesel engines wrote (google translated from Dutch to English)
What Ferrari here mainly do is make use of spontaneous combustion of fuel in a controlled manner. Spontaneous combustion (which is the rule for diesel engines) provides much higher combustion pressures and therefore more torque at lower revs. We tried before to keep the two forms (gasoline and diesel) of inflammation separated. Still, several car manufacturers have already begun (particularly with Mazda SKYACTIV) to throw gasoline engine compression ratios up and trying by means variable ignition timing to use controlled spontaneous combustion in gasoline engines. This is exactly what Ferrari introduced here. By using multiple injections per combustion cycle can arrange spontaneous combustion in gasoline engines (you then ensures that the first bit of gasoline continues lighting the newly injected gasoline). Then will use Ferrari for inflammation and may bring forward the opening exhaust valves to return to conventional combustion at higher speeds.

I can see them using it at higher speeds when it's easier to control the combustion, but my understanding of HCCI is that spark ignition is used under heavy loads or rapid acceleration. I could be way off base, but I bet HCCI would work better on long straights than on a standing start.

[zamlatuljko]

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/3-24-2016/4EpE_d.gif

[jragona]

http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/3-24-2016/4EpE_d.gif

Nice... lets hope we see that more often this year!

[PURE PASSION]

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen's stunning getaway from the lights at the Australian Grand Prix may not be a mere fluke according to Christian Horner, who said his team had noticed how rapid Ferrari's starts had been in testing.

The two former champions rocketed from third and fourth to first and second on the opening lap of the Albert Park race, demoting the front row Mercedes' as they appeared to get bogged down.

Though Nico Rosberg recovered during the red flag interrupted race to defeat Vettel and claim the first win of the 2016 season, Mercedes has revealed it will look into its procedures to understand if human factors or a fundamental issue played a part in a slow getaway.

“Our practice starts weren't very good,” Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said. “To be honest I don't know what happened at the start, we need to analyse what it could have been and we are looking to fix it.

“Lewis was a couple of metres worse than Nico's from what we measured and I'm not quite sure whether it was a hardware or software problem or just reaction.”

However, Red Bull boss Horner suggests the emphasis on the disparate getaways may be more towards Ferrari, revealing that he had spotted it was producing rapid starts in pre-season testing.

“Ferrari ran a lot closer to Mercedes,” he said when asked if he felt Ferrari had a chance against Mercedes thisi year. “They were aided by a fantastic start, we saw that in pre-season, their starts have been really strong.”

Could it be that we have found something special here??
If that's the case,nine end to qualify in front!!

[From Treviso]

Noted we never saw the fuel consumption figures during the race, and am wondering if consumption played its roles with Haas having an advantage over the following group in the latter stages going by all this talk about Ferrari's combustion advances. Also, was the extra rumoured torque the real reason the Ferraris punched into the lead once traction settled?

[KimiBot]

Seb was 0.4 of pole in 2015

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-result...-1-grand-prix/

[fronaldo]

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-result...-1-grand-prix/

I think he meant for Bahrain GP last year

[abbottcostello]

Kimi's engine is ok. He'll use the same engine used in Melbourne

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ra...ahrain-682029/

If Ferrari planned reliability based on 4 per 20 race season, should be OK for Kimi, as the 1 extra race gave everyone 1 extra, now he's right at that original allotment!

This jack-rabbit start ability, if it proves repeatable for Ferrari, should really get Mercs panties in a bunch. They'll actually be playing catch up in development if it wasn't just poor starts by both of their boys.