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Red Bull and Toro Rosso to share a new motor home named F1 Holzhaus. A new wooden motor home for the European leg events. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
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Is downforce still the problem for Ferrari even after the new updates in Baku? Also why is the team generally slower than expected? Rahul Bharadwak, via Twitter It's not just downforce, it's a bit of everything. As Sebastian Vettel says, he still doesn't feel confident in the car so he's reluctant to push it to the limit - and Charles Leclerc paid the price in Baku qualifying for doing just that. Downforce overpowers most of the other criteria that make up a car's performance, but it needs to be usable downforce. That is really what Vettel is saying: somewhere in the package the Ferrari has something that is creating peaky downforce that means the drivers can't rely on it. During testing at Barcelona and during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, the car was working outside that too-critical aerodynamic window and it was fast. In Australia, and to a certain extent China and at least for Vettel's car in Azerbaijan, it was in the bad spot. In Baku, Leclerc could have been at least on the front row and the fact that the car was better for both of them in the race shows that it is the aerodynamic window it is working in, mainly in qualifying, that brings out some little gremlins. I'm not so sure that Ferrari's floor developments haven't bitten it. The treatment of the last louvre on the floor just in front of the rear tyre seems a little strange where it has an opening that goes inside the inner front corner of the rear tyre. I think to get consistency from the diffuser, this flow should be encouraged to go outboard of the rear tyre. The Spanish GP will be a big weekend for both Ferrari and Mercedes. It should show up who has improved or who has gone backwards. I'm pretty sure Mercedes has made a lot of progress since pre-season testing, where it wasn't far away from Ferrari anyway. https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature/9110/what-exactly-is-ferrari-problem
I'm no fan of the current track so maybe a move is due. Valencia also has the advantage of undisputedly being in Spain.
Ferrari PU updates (2 of them) Ferrari: two-metal alloy pistons make their debut in the two engine? After two years of experimentation, Ferrari decided to bring the steel pistons to the track: thanks to the production in Addicting Manufacturing, weight would have been saved, reaching a stiffness and resistance to high temperatures higher than those of aluminum. The question everyone asks is: why did Ferrari anticipate the debut of the second engine of the three cars awarded in the 2019 season at the Spanish GP? Mattia Binotto, Cavallino team principal, announced yesterday the decision that was made in the Racing Department ... "In Spain there will be a new power unit anticipating the initial program that planned to introduce the second unit in Canada - explained Binotto - for this power unit Shell, in collaboration with the team, has developed a different oil that will guarantee better performance. We were able to bring these developments here only thanks to a great team effort that shows how much the whole team is pushing to catch up ”. The goal is to close the gap that separates the SF90 from Mercedes, bringing a contribution to performance also from the mechanics and not only from the aerodynamic package that was approved for Montmelò with new, more loaded wings (front and rear), bearing in mind that Barcelona 10 more horses are worth a gain of 0 "13 on lap time, given that the Catalan track, despite what is being said, is quite sensitive to the power of the power units. But what is the novelty that distinguishes this two motor of the Prancing Horse? The mouths in Maranello are sewn, but according to the few rumors that filter it would be time to debut the bi-metal alloy pistons able to withstand the greater stresses that there will be in the combustion chamber and thermal expansion without compromising the reliability . So far the engineers driven by Corrado Iotti have exploited aluminum alloy pistons, while, after a couple of years of experimentation, the times for the use of those in steel alloy that had not been set aside, but have been developed on a parallel plane. It is true that steel pistons have a higher specific weight than aluminum ones, but they also have a greater capacity to withstand deformations and temperatures. Not only that, but thanks to the Addicting Manufacturing, that is the technology that allows to realize complex parts through special 3D metal-jet printers, it is now possible to create three-dimensional objects with a deposit of layers of dust composed of materials that would be complex to use in traditional fusion processes. The steel alloy (the second element seems to be very innovative) would have allowed the resolution of a piston that has no solid surfaces, but a honeycomb, thanks to which it would have been possible to reach values of rigidity and resistance to high temperatures above to those of aluminum, also reducing the weight that was the serious starting handicap. The Ferrari engine in the first races turned out to be quite thirsty in terms of consumption: even in Baku Vettel and Leclerc were forced to slow down to save fuel, while the W10 dominators would have completed the Azeri GP with over 7 kg of fuel in the tank. With the new Shell oil in Maranello they are convinced to reduce the friction of moving parts, contributing to a slight increase in performance and a reduction in consumption. The word on the track ... https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-sul-motore-due-debuttano-a-barcellona-i-pistoni-in-lega-bi-metallica/4383573/&prev=search Also [Autobild] About the new Ferrari power unit (PU2): it is said that the new PU has more horsepower, is more efficient (thanks to improvement in the hybrid part also because of the the new Shell fuel) and has solved the teething issues of PU1 that slowed them a bit down.
I am wondering if Liberty is considering a curb on team hospitalities as part of its budget cap. It's gone beyond the joke now, IMO. Circuit owners are now asked to provide huge paddock areas for activities absolutely not related to motor racing. I remember being invited by SHELL as a guest at the German GP at Hockenheim many years ago, and being flabbergasted to find out on Sunday that most of the people in the corporate hospitalities didn't bother to watch the race!!
All tracks (with the exception of street tracks of course) manage. A curb on hospitalities is a bit pointless, they all have these facilities now so wouldn't be much point telling them to reduce the size...if anything will just add costs by having a new, smaller one made. It's where (as you know) they invite their sponsors to, and they want a nice, private area. Up to them if they're interested in the race....can't force that! If anything, Red Bull and STR are actually sharing this building so a good attempt to reduce size!
More on engine upgrade including a tech focus video... https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/news/847 "Ferrari will introduce its first engine upgrade of the Formula 1 season at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, two races earlier than planned."
