Ferrari F138 - Development and News

[mirafiori]

His helmet looks black and red so it should be marc gene

No your wrong its not Marc Gene its Pedro De La Rosa, he has the Spanish flag on his gloves.

[vcs316]

We are allowed to test a 3 season old car (if I remember correctly).

[Massimo]

He's not going slow.http://www.mobypicture.com/user/pius.../view/15170420

[NickEice]

No your wrong its not Marc Gene its Pedro De La Rosa, he has the Spanish flag on his gloves.

Are you looking at pictures we don't have?

[giodap]

No your wrong its not Marc Gene its Pedro De La Rosa, he has the Spanish flag on his gloves.

Ive just zoomed in a bit closer and i can see it. Well spotted mirafirori

[Jas]

Could ot be the case, as stefano mentioned that the drs component which broke has been used for three years, they are trying different variations on the f150...actually that still wudnt get past the testing ban!! Ignore me

[Jose Lorca]

We were testing at Idiada today.

[mirafiori]

We were testing at Idiada today.

How do you know we were testing today?

[Jose Lorca]

How do you know we were testing today?

http://www.f1passion.it/2013/04/f1-t...di-barcellona/

[mirafiori]

Cheers Jose Lorca, always good to know what is going on

[riotcity90]

So has anyone heard of any updates coming to Spain?

[Rishu]

So has anyone heard of any updates coming to Spain?

There will be no talk about the updates this year, atleast not from team's side.

[FrankAlfa]

Spain is always the place where Ferrari has a BIG update package. It is the start of the European part of the season and it is also the point where the teams respond to the evaluation of first few races and what needs to be done to improve their race cars. Look for a big update to F138.

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[shamim179]

Lets hope so. They've made it sound like the China update was big. Seems like the Barcelona update is going to be even bigger. But are we having correlation problems again as some of the updates didn't work?

[Hornet]

Lets hope so. They've made it sound like the China update was big. Seems like the Barcelona update is going to be even bigger. But are we having correlation problems again as some of the updates didn't work?

It's normal to have some aero updates work and some to not work on track. Wind tunnel is not an accurate representative of how the aero would work in real world (remember they are working with scale model, and the airflow in an enclosed tunnel is not the same). It's just a guide for the development process. Ultimately, each part will need to be tested in real life, and some will work and some won't.

[FrankAlfa]

Yes, very accurate. I agree! The INFORMATION gained in the Wind Tunnel is used in the CFD Department as a basis for the car's design. Shapes are made and measuring instruments applied and tested. All this information gained about the different parts and peices tested in the Wind Tunnel are constantly downloaded in to the data base and used by the design Engineers. Computational Fluid Dynamics is a powerful tool but it is worth nothing and its designs are only a limited "Guess" if you do not have data to provide you with a direction to go in your design. This is where the Wind Tunnel comes into play.

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[Nero Horse]

I like the fact that the team doesn't reveal any info on the new updates this year. As a tifoso of course I'm dying to know what updates they will bring and how big the update package is going to be, but I know that it's better to keep all the cards hidden from prying eyes. Let the other teams guess and wonder as much as they want. We shall find out exactly what new updates our team has come up with in just 4 days.

Forza Ferrari!!!

[FrankAlfa]

This is certainly a much better philosophy to follow then telling the world all their news, all the time! Yes, keep the "Card Close to the Chest"!

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[stefa]

Few more days and we will see what the team brought new to Spain.

[mark p]

Yes, very accurate. I agree! The INFORMATION gained in the Wind Tunnel is used in the CFD Department as a basis for the car's design. Shapes are made and measuring instruments applied and tested. All this information gained about the different parts and peices tested in the Wind Tunnel are constantly downloaded in to the data base and used by the design Engineers. Computational Fluid Dynamics is a powerful tool but it is worth nothing and its designs are only a limited "Guess" if you do not have data to provide you with a direction to go in your design. This is where the Wind Tunnel comes into play.

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

Why dont they build a remote control scale model to test the aero outside and round the corners? I kniw it would only be 20% scale but still its real worl air flow. teams cant complain ferrari have a test track as you only need the staff car park. merc would have an advantage however has hamilton was a radio control car champ.

[FrankAlfa]

Interesting but not very relavent. 20% scale still presents the issue of being too small. The teams are curently using 50%models possibly larger. I don't know what the current rules allow.

In the end any "Scale Model" needs to be as close to the real car as possible to duplicate the dynamics of the full size car. Suspension, Fuel Load, Engine, etc. need to be an exact depiction of the Actual Race Car. Anything less would give invalid data.

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[Alonso14]

Interesting but not very relavent. 20% scale still presents the issue of being too small. The teams are curently using 50%models possibly larger. I don't know what the current rules allow.

In the end any "Scale Model" needs to be as close to the real car as possible to duplicate the dynamics of the full size car. Suspension, Fuel Load, Engine, etc. need to be an exact depiction of the Actual Race Car. Anything less would give invalid data.

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

I think they are using 60% scale models.

And I think they are also allowed couple of straight line tests during the season and can swap them for one 100% scale wind tunnel test.

[FrankAlfa]

Yes, I think you are correct.

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

[mark p]

Yes, I think you are correct.

Ciao,

Forza Ferrari!!!!

I was joking but a 60 % radio control car simulating real world airflow aould be better than a windtunnel and nothing in the rules against it?

[gjoko-mkd]

April 26, 2013 - Lotus and Ferrari will be engaged in these days that closed the month of April, to test some aerodynamic elements for the forthcoming Spanish Grand Prix, which will be held in Barcelona in a few weeks. For both teams it will develop the components still in development stage, as well as deliberate new updates.

In particular, Lotus , which on this occasion will coach our Davide Valsecchi , will focus on famous DDRS , which still needs to find the right stability to be used for the race.

The Enstone team has for months been involved in this project, which for a game of pressures used in an absolutely independent, the ability to decrease the center of pressure in the area below the floor rear wing.

The advantage that this provides is an effect similar to double DRS used by a couple of teams until 2012 and put into operation by special channels located in the side walls of the wing, which were fed when the pilot activated the system of the wing moving in a straight line.

The latter being an aerodynamic device controlled by the pilot, was outlawed by the Federation who will not admit them by regulation. The Lotus , will perform the test on the runway at Duxford , where last year the incident occurred that ended the career of the Spanish Maria de Villota .

The Ferrari instead will travel always Idiada in Spain, the plant intended for testing of various dynamics on the cars and racing series, similar in concept to that of Italian Vairano . The Maranello Stable, will test specifically and away from prying eyes, the new aero package for the race Montemelò which will be held Sunday, May 12.

At the moment the nature of the updates that appear to Barcelona on the F138 is absolutely top secret , although probably they will cover different parts of the car such as the aging of the body in the area of the discharge, appendices wing and other components.

F1P | Luca Ferrari

http://www.f1passion.it/2013/04/f1-t...di-barcellona/

[stefa]

Just looking at formula1.com weather forecast for the forthcoming Spain GP. It doesn't look promising. All 3 days overcast with rain and as high as 19 degrees.

[Hornet]

Just looking at formula1.com weather forecast for the forthcoming Spain GP. It doesn't look promising. All 3 days overcast with rain and as high as 19 degrees.

The official forcast is usually quite accurate

After Sepang, I would not be hoping for another wet race

[stefa]

The official forcast is usually quite accurate

After Sepang, I would not be hoping for another wet race

I don't know what to think of rain... Earlier I was praying for rain... Let's wait and see

[Dino]

A score of 6 on the report card but I’m optimistic”

Tombazis takes stock: cautious yet confident

Maranello, 7 May – This weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix signals the start of the European part of the season and more importantly, the point when all the teams run their first significant car updates of the year: in an interview to ferrari.com Scuderia Ferrari’s Chief Designer, Nikolas Tombazis, assesses the first quartet of races and looks ahead to the Iberian weekend.

“I think in general, the first results mean we can be reasonably optimistic about the rest of the season, with a sense that we can fight for wins and the championship,” reckons Tombazis. “However, if I was to score our overall performance, I would only give it a 6 out of 10 and that’s for two main reasons: one is that we are not yet quite where we want to be. In the first four Grands Prix, we were not really able to fight for pole position and that is one of our main objectives at the moment. Secondly, if you look at the actual results, even if it’s true we’ve had a win, which naturally we can be very pleased about, we have also had two very bad results where we scored very few points. However, I reiterate, that overall, we can be optimistic for the future.”

The Scuderia has had its most competitive start to a season for many years and Tombazis reckons that is down to a variety of factors. “We have made a series of changes to our approach in terms of our working practices and also from an organisational point of view. At the same time, we are improving our facilities and I believe we now also have a better understanding about how certain aspects of the car work. Putting all that together has enabled us to make a better start to the season than in previous years. However, the process is not complete and we feel we are only halfway through these fundamental changes and we continue to work on improving all these parameters, which, in the case of our facilities, includes the work we are doing on our wind tunnel. I think the new working methods we have adopted and the new structure put in place has allowed us to be more creative and this was one of the objectives we established along with Pat Fry, to reorganise the place and to give people more time to think. We identified areas where, in the past few years, we were a bit understaffed, which meant people were under pressure and did not have time to think about what could make the car go faster. It is working, but there is room to improve still further, even though this aspect has definitely contributed to the improvement in performance that we have seen so far this year.”

The first four races have taken place on race tracks each with very different characteristics to the others and added to this, the weather has thrown a full range of variables at the teams, from very hot to cold, from tropical downpours to dry desert heat. This has been challenging but it has also allowed engineers to get a view of how the cars perform in all conditions in just a few races. “The variability of weather conditions as well as the different characteristics of the four tracks we have raced on so far has enabled us to gauge our relative strengths and weaknesses compared to our competitors,” concurs Tombazis. “We have seen that we have been stronger in certain conditions, both in terms of track type and weather, than in others –this includes looking at the type of corners, whether a circuit involves heavy braking and other similar parameters. Overall, depending on the circuit, some of these strengths and weaknesses will be highlighted and therefore, based on what we have seen so far, we do not expect a constant performance level over the next few races, but rather we do expect to be reasonably competitive in most conditions.”

All this means that the Spanish Grand Prix is an important barometer of what we can expect from all the teams and what the hierarchy might be, at least for the next few races, because the Barcelona circuit provides an all-round test of a Formula 1 car’s ability. “I believe most of our competitors will have a significant number of updates in Spain, which is not surprising, as there was a reasonably long gap after the first four races,” says Tombazis. “Of course, we too have updates and naturally, I don’t want to go into too much detail, but they extend to the bodywork, floor and wings. With any new component, the difficulty lies not so much in its development but in deciding whether or not it is working on track as well as we had hoped. Therefore, by Friday evening in Barcelona, our objective is to have a clear view on what we will take forward to use in the race, in the hope of seeing measurements taken from the wind tunnel confirmed on track.”

http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/a-s...ard-optimistic

[stefa]

No matter how big and visible are those updates, I just hope they will work and give desired effect.