The underbody of the Ferrari F2002 is set to come under scrutiny in Barcelona this weekend.
It looks as though the sport could be heading for one of its periodic bust-ups over regulations in Spain as the new Ferrari has a rather controversial feature.
According to this month’s F1 Racing magazine the F2002 has a floor which flexes to increase downforce. Engineers from rival teams have noted the cars bargeboards have been moving because they are connected to the car’s underfloor.
According to paddock sources the floor could be utilising new technology used in helicopter blades for combat helicopters in the USA. These blades use a form of carbon-fibre which can be controlled and made to flex very precisely on command. If this is true the Ferrari's legality could be called into question as the floor could be construed as a moveable aerodynamic device which are banned.
F1 was plunged into controversy in 1999 when some teams were found to be using rear wings that deformed to decrease their angle of attack under high loadings. This means the wing would ‘flatten out’ on long straights to give the car a higher top speed. These were banned and aerodynamic devices are now subject to a stiffness test.
In the late-Seventies and early-Eighties cornering speeds shot up during the ground-effect era in which the cars generated most of their downforce from huge underbody wings. Speeds became too high and the FIA moved to limit cars to having flat bottoms.
The floor could therefore break the rules on two counts as it could be described as a moveable aerodynamic device as well as breaking the flat bottom regs.
The article in F1 Racing explained that FIA scrutineer Joe Bauer was shown by one leading engineer that the bargeboards were moving up to 40mm at the Variante Alte chicane at Imola.
Bauer put this down to the fact that the Ferrari was running with a high ballast load located on the floor. However, this explanation is bound to ring hollow in the ears of Ferrari’s rivals and the row could blow up at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
It looks as though the sport could be heading for one of its periodic bust-ups over regulations in Spain as the new Ferrari has a rather controversial feature.
According to this month’s F1 Racing magazine the F2002 has a floor which flexes to increase downforce. Engineers from rival teams have noted the cars bargeboards have been moving because they are connected to the car’s underfloor.
According to paddock sources the floor could be utilising new technology used in helicopter blades for combat helicopters in the USA. These blades use a form of carbon-fibre which can be controlled and made to flex very precisely on command. If this is true the Ferrari's legality could be called into question as the floor could be construed as a moveable aerodynamic device which are banned.
F1 was plunged into controversy in 1999 when some teams were found to be using rear wings that deformed to decrease their angle of attack under high loadings. This means the wing would ‘flatten out’ on long straights to give the car a higher top speed. These were banned and aerodynamic devices are now subject to a stiffness test.
In the late-Seventies and early-Eighties cornering speeds shot up during the ground-effect era in which the cars generated most of their downforce from huge underbody wings. Speeds became too high and the FIA moved to limit cars to having flat bottoms.
The floor could therefore break the rules on two counts as it could be described as a moveable aerodynamic device as well as breaking the flat bottom regs.
The article in F1 Racing explained that FIA scrutineer Joe Bauer was shown by one leading engineer that the bargeboards were moving up to 40mm at the Variante Alte chicane at Imola.
Bauer put this down to the fact that the Ferrari was running with a high ballast load located on the floor. However, this explanation is bound to ring hollow in the ears of Ferrari’s rivals and the row could blow up at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
Vastaukset 1
Vanhimmat
Tässä otsikossa nähdään hyvin tämän palstan lukijoiden taso. Monet eivät taida osata englantia kun vain muutama on eksynyt tämänkin lukemaan. Veikkaanpa, että sekin on ollut vahinko..
Kuitenkin kopioitu teksti käsittelee yhtä tämän päivän formula 1 maailman kuuminta uutista. Nyt en siis todellakaan tarkoita erään veljen mielikuvitusmaailmaa.