Why Ferrari Has lost Its Edge

Anybody heard anything about problems with the Ferrari wind tunnel as a possible reason Ferrari has not been able to continue to develop the car on pace with McLaren?

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19298.html

 

the loss of ross brawn and macca more like

 

A steel belt breaking at 180mph? Hope everyone was under cover...

 

That got nothing to do with it.

 

I can't believe I haven't heard that it is because Schuey left yet...

 

Schuey left and so do Brawn

 

I've heard the employee who works the belt went on strike ...
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Ferrari isn't winning every race! The end of the world is nigh!

Competition...it is a good thing.

 

A steel belt breaking in the wind tunnel,

OR

When the belt hits the fan.


So, that wind tunnel hasn't been blessed by the Pope, then?

 

Wind tunnel is for prototype testing....once the season starts the Track should be used, IMO...



LOL!

Nice Belt Operator, fo' sure!!!!

 

Ferrari was completely dominant in Melbourne, and Mclaren were worried. Now were heading into Round 8 at Magny Cours, and Mclaren is dominant and Ferrari is worried. I think to figure this out you must look at what Ferrari had then and doesn't have now, or what Mclaren has gained that they didn't have then. I don't think they've lost an edge really, but sometimes I do think it looks like Kimi isn't trying as hard as he should, or is he as fast as he's all cocked up to be. I read on Pitpass that there was a rumor he was headed to Toyota, but it was just a rumor. I don't think the balance will shift again, but if were in for a year like 2004, except it's Mclaren that's dominating, then that would really suck.

 

No Schumi, no Brawn and a wheelbase like Ron Jeremy. That's why they're not winning.

 

and zero keels design old 248 suspension, etc, etc....

 

Just a wild assed guess, but I think the new Ferrari suffers from lack of mechanical grip. Thats why it was slower at Monaco. The Mac had inferior aero to the Ferrari, but better mechanical grip.

But McLaren has improved their car. They improved its aero and now Ferrari's advantage based on their aero has been negated - and overall the Mac is faster.

IMO improving aeros is easier than mechanical grip, because you can relatively easily change out bodywork, but making chassis changes is a quite huge undertaking. Sure, R&D on aero is hugely time consuming but once you see what the other guys are doing its not that hard to test it yourself (and by definition, because aeros are on the outside of the car, you can always see them, whereas you often cannot see covered mechanical/chassis parts). So the prognosis is not good. I think Ferrari is not going to be able to catch up with McLaren unless they can come up with a workaround for the chassis problem of low grip, and/or ease the situation with even better aero than the mac.





A whole bunch of assumption right there but I tend to think I may not be too far off the mark.

 

The article says that Ferrari runs one wind tunnel and uses CFD for virtual testing, while other teams use two wind tunnels. CFD is still an art with lots of black magic when it comes to turbulence models. Ferrari really needs to constantly verify numerical results with experimental data for new part design. If the wind tunnel is down, regardless of how many CPUs they have working, I would guess it would really slow down actual testing of parts designed using CFD.

 

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=31813

Your assumption is backed up by a post race interview with Baldesserri and Domenicali from Ferrari. They clearly say they lack grip. They know the grip is there because the other teams do get the grip from the Bridgestone tires so they're working on that as we speak. I hope they find it asap.

 

that explains Kimi's form. he has been complaining about the lack of grip for a while now. i really hope they get things sorted out...fast.

 

Not a wild guess, you are correct about the grip issue.. I have been mentioning a problem with grip in virtually every thread in this forum for weeks.

 

This has much to do with the current problems.

The wind tunnel suffered "catastrophic damage" just prior to Spain, and they have not been able to catch up since. The lack of grip has much to do with downforce which has much to do with aerodynamics. It was predicted in the Italian press that this setback was so significant that the team may not catch up until the end of the season.

 

I hope this is not the case

The fact that Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest race lap at Indianapolis lends credence to the view that Ferrari is struggling more for single-lap pace on new tyres than for long-run performance

 

Somebody call me ?

Kimi to Toyota ? Why would they want him ? He's done nothing to prove to me he is any better than anyone else... I'm still waiting...

 

Doesn't anyone think there is something seriously wrong with motorsports when your entire season is developed around a wind tunnel ?

 

good point

 

Ferrari forgot to read their memo change the belt every THREE years.LOL

 

It isn't. If this would be really true and such a big deal, don't you think the press (outside of Italy) would have talked about?

Besides: Ferrari has more than one wind tunnel at their disposal.