Ferrari's newly launched F60 challenger is 'illegal' according to Auto Motor und Sport. The car, revealed last week at the Mugello circuit in Italy, features rear exhaust outlets that reportedly contravene the sweeping new technical regulations. The magazine said some of the Italian team's rivals have noted that because of the new rules cracking down on bodywork appendages like aerodynamic winglets, exposing the exhausts in the way the F60 is designed is not allowed. A glance at the other new cars revealed so far - the Renault, Williams, McLaren and Toyota - shows that their exhausts have all been mounted in-board. Auto Motor und Sport said it should not be too much of a problem for Ferrari to redesign the exhaust housing, but it may help to explain the team's retreat from the Portimao group test this week to Mugello. Officially, Ferrari decamped to Mugello because of adverse weather forecasts for this week, but the magazine said the F60 also showed a significant problem with its front wing when tested last week. It is suggested that, in light of these challenges, Ferrari concluded that it should be conducting the car's first major test as close as possible to its Maranello base. Source: GMM © CAPSIS International
Looks like they may have shortened up the pipes to remain inside the body work... hard to tell though... first shot is on launch day - second shot is from the Mugello test, today... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It looks more like they've covered them up. I doubt they shortened the pipes; that'd affect engine performance.
Illegal, if they race with them, I thought it was the FIA's job to state what was ok or not!! I'm sure they have taken note, thank's Auto Motor und Sport.
+1 Even if the exhaust outlets were illegal pursuant to BS rule #188932945652084252.4848484842626484(which will be modified shortly anyway), I think it is far less of an issue than if the front wing is a POS. I wish they would have elaborated on what the speculated problem with the wing might be. Mark
FWIW, I read that Aldo Costa commented that the exhausts are presently Illegal and that they're using the 2008 system for shake down testing only. The actual exhaust will be fitted to the car for the first race, which makes me think that either they're behind on the development, or they've got something innovative that they don't want copied. If you look at the pics, there are lots of hardware fittings around this portion of the car, which leads one to believe tha they can swap things out easily. Again FWIW....
I wonder how long before they declare the side-mirror mounts to be "illegal;" the design is awfully close to the turning vanes that are supposed to be no longer allowed, and no other teams have anything close. That said, kudos to the designers of the F60 for implementing that feature. Unless specifically told you cannot do something, it is fair game right? I am guessing that by Melbourne either Ferrari will no longer be allowed to have those mirrors, or everyone else will have a similar design...
i actually don't see anything wrong with the position of the mirrors. Just that thing that connects with the sidepods, that sorta look..illegal...
fastback-> I agree with you; I had not seen the FW31 prior to my post above. Remy-> That is what I was getting at. Not the mirrors themselves, just the "separation" between the support for the mirror and the sidepod itself. Just trying to prepare everyone for the inevitable investigation prompted by some future complaints from Woking...
I doubt it. From what I've been reading they are definately within the current regulations. The imaginary "box" where no aero appendages are allowed extends from the front of the side pod to the rear wheel. Ferrari got around the rule by moving the front edge of the side pod back towards the rear wheel, effectively making the forbidden "box" smaller and placing the winglet outside the "box" or within the rules. Other teams are crying because they didn't think of it.
Just curious what the advantages of exposed pipes are? I would think it would be more aero-efficient to have them covered. I understand that this isn't the car that will be in Melbourne, but I just don't understand why teams would even care if it's a design that will slow them down. Even more, why complain about it so early? Everyone knows that the cars are far from finished.
I think he mentions his own reasoning here. If the pipes are legal and my team was stuck in a less flexible position I would be unhappy also. And when was the last time you read something that said "we are very unhappy because our competitors got the jump on us and our design is poor."? You'll never get a source for something like that because it will never be in print.
As 250 GTO notes, it is my reasoning, which is frankly what I'd be thinking if I were another team, and Ferrari's solution works. Anyway it came from Mark Hughes, ITV-F1: While he doesn't flat out say it, I believe it's implied.
I'm curious about the design for those mirrors... on previous cars, there were problems with being able to see behind because the mirror would flap and vibrate at high speed. Surely, with such long stalks (even if they're strengthened to work as 'turning veins') such vibration would be exacerbated? And, I would think being able to see behind you would be important in a Ferrari - it's where the rest of the field are bound to be. All the best, Andrew.
