Pre-Race Thread: Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

No much passing. But I am so happy to be back on a real race track

 

LOLLLLLLLLLLLL Love it!

 

The eight key changes Ferrari has made to its F1 car for Imola
Ferrari used a filming day at Fiorano last week to test out the update package it will deploy at Formula 1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this weekend.

Matt Somerfield May 14, 2024, 2:53 PM
Upd: May 14, 2024, 2:56 PM


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Photo by: Davide Cavazza


Giorgio Piola's F1 technical analysis

Giorgio Piola is the preeminent Formula 1 technical journalist. Born in Genoa, Italy, Giorgio has covered the F1 World Championship since 1969, producing thousands of illustrations that have been reproduced in the world’s most prestigious motor racing publications.


The team did so to ensure it had enough time if there were teething problems for what is quite a substantial change, not only to the aerodynamic performance of the car but also to how the power unit and ancillaries are cooled.

A package of this magnitude has taken some time for Ferrari to develop, prepare and manufacture, with the team clearly working around Formula 1's globe-trotting schedule to deliver the updates upon the series' return to Europe.

The logic behind this decision will undoubtedly have been driven by the last two races having also been sprint events, leaving only a single practice session at each in which to assess the difference in behaviour and find the right set-up with the new parts for the competitive session.

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Ferrari SF-24 side Imola comparison (numbered)

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

The most obvious change to the SF-24 is in the adoption of an overbite sidepod inlet arrangement [1], which follows more closely in the footsteps of Red Bull, albeit other teams have other overbite variants.

In Ferrari's case, it has opted to connect its new horizontal inlet with the bypass duct's inlet beside the chassis [3], creating more of a P-shaped inlet, similar to the layout on the Alpine and Mercedes.

This has resulted in the outlet beside the cockpit and halo being discontinued as part of the update though, with the vanes also altered as a consequence [4], as they've now become even more stylised and look like a Cobra when viewed from the front.

The change from an underbite to an overbite alters the height of the sidepod's undercut, providing more room to capture the airflow as it moves down and around the bodywork, even if that does mean there's now also the inlet framed within that region.

The upshot of the change is that the surfaces thereafter can also be optimised to improve flow to the rear of the car, with the waistline also adjusted quite considerably as part of the update [2].

The overbite also means that there's no longer an inlet in the path of the sidepod's upper surface, with the flow over the sidepod likely improved as a consequence.

Reconfiguring the sidepod bodywork and cooling parameters, the engine cover and cooling outlets have also been refreshed, with a similar single but larger outlet to the one used in Japan deployed as part of the package tested in Fiorano [7].

There's also some detail changes on the surface of the floor that indicate there's a heap of work going on under the SF-24 too. The scrolled forward section of the edge wing [5] has been altered, with a more aggressive camber applied, while the strakes are also bolder than before to match.

There are further changes to the edge wing's profile downstream, whilst the support bracketry around the floor's split line has also changed, as rather than using the support spar's bracket to hold both sections in position, there's now another horseshoe bracket thrown into the mix that allows more segmentation of the two sections [6].

Interestingly, it's an arrangement we've seen in 2023 (below, left), suggesting the team decided to use a solution that likely had performance benefits in the past that they couldn't fully exploit.

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The rear wing has also been altered [8], as the team has made some adjustments to both the tip section and the endplate cutout as they look to both increase the upper flap's wingspan, while also altering the tip vortex to improve the wing's efficiency.

The tip section now has a much squarer profile, rather than being rolled over to match the shape of the mainplane ahead, which has resulted in the support bracket between the two sections also being made shorter and moved further inboard.

These changes then expose more of the mainplane's trailing edge and endplate cutout, allowing the designers a little more freedom in terms of optimising their shape.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-eight-key-changes-ferrari-has-made-to-its-f1-car-for-imola/10610816/

 

https://www.planetf1.com/news/red-bull-rb20-pace-warning-adrian-newey-imola

Imola tipped to ‘shape the rest of the 2024 season’
And in Imola, McLaren will have the added challenge of taking on Red Bull’s first round of upgrades.

While McLaren brought a big upgrade to the track in Miami, Red Bull will fire their first shots in the development war at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Ferrari too are updating their SF-24.

“The threat of Red Bull is ever-present,” said Tom Clarkson. “I remember Adrian Newey saying at the first race in Bahrain that the Red Bull is going to look very different at race seven. Well, we’re coming to race seven now. So they are bringing new parts to the Red Bull.

“What are they going to do? Well, we have to wait until first practice on Friday to find out.

“I actually feel that this weekend is going to shape the rest of the 2024 season because Red Bull are bringing new bits, Ferrari are bringing new bits which they’ve already tested at Fiorano last week, McLaren of course have got the new bits and Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren is gonna have the full upgrades on his car.

“So how it plays out this weekend is going to give us a lot of clues as to how the rest of the season is going to play.”

Hill responded: “It is going to be fascinating to see how it plays out. Imola has got very high-speed corners but not a lot of big radius corners and there’s precious little in the way of very slow corners so slippery cars will be better there and cars with good change of direction.

“It doesn’t necessarily, I don’t think, need maximum downforce. You’ve got a relatively high average speed.

“I think Red Bull are going to be quick there but if they are bringing upgrades all I can say is I don’t know what those upgrades are going to do, none of us do at the moment, except you can pretty much assume it’s going to be better.”

 

These upgrades better work or all the hype is for nothing…. Oh wait that’s every year

 

These advertisements look cheap everywhere

 

Some proper changes made to Imola as well, gravel traps added again and parking lots removed. Good stuff.

 

Saw the weather forecast a week ago. It didn't look good for the weekend. Hopefully, it's dry come Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

I'm actually disappointment that Ferrari so publicly showed their upgrades. I hope it all works though. I think it's gonna be snoozefest this weekend anyhow

 

For us in the West Coast, when get to the European races, we normally are awake for the first half an hour,
then after the firsts round of pitstops, the eyes get really heavy... If by then, Max is ahead by 20s smoking a cigar,
then we go complete the last nap.

 

Hahahaha...classic. That's why i watch the first 10 laps, and then i watch the highlights the next day.

 

It appears to be excellent currently Mid 20's C and no major chance of rain.

 

There saying slight chance of rain Sunday at the moment. They don't say if that's in the morning or afternoon.

 

It’s not the Scuderia singing the upgrades from the rooftop. The press always uses and abuses Ferrari.

 

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Thanks K-Mag. FIA about to actually do some 'management' lol!

FIA planning harsher F1 penalties to clamp down on Magnussen Miami tactics
The FIA is planning to impose harsher penalties for Formula 1 drivers deliberately cutting the track to keep a position in the wake of Kevin Magnussen's antics in Miami.
Filip Cleeren May 15, 2024, 6:39 PM


In Miami's sprint Magnussen was handed three 10-second penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, which meant the Haas driver was able to keep Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton behind. He also received a fourth penalty, this time a five-second addition, for leaving the track for no justifiable reason that bolstered his penalty points tally in the process.

While Magnussen ruined his own race, his tactics did allow team-mate Hulkenberg to score vital points, mirroring the Dane's defensive drive in similar circumstances in Saudi Arabia.

Magnussen's actions were slammed as "unacceptable" and worthy of a race ban by McLaren team boss Andrea Stella, with a growing consensus that the decision to raise the punishment from five to 10 seconds for this season does nothing to deter drivers from blocking rivals illegally to benefit a team-mate.

The Miami stewards decided to stick with 10-second penalties to maintain consistency with previous decisions, but raised in one of their verdicts the point that harsher penalties might be a better solution going forward.

Autosport understands the FIA is keen to start handing out drive-throughs in such scenarios, which solves the issue immediately because it forces the offending drivers to pit and cede track position within two laps.

The matter is set to be discussed by the teams, stewards and the FIA in Friday's team managers briefing at Imola's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The escalating punishment would be handed out in case of repeat offences during the same race, when the stewards suspect drivers are intentionally going off track to maintain their position.

A return of stewards telling drivers to give the position back, which was standard practice until handing that responsibility to the drivers from 2022 onwards, is not under consideration.

 

Race Stewards


Tim Mayer
Matthew Selley
Vitantonio Liuzzi - DRIVER REPRESENTATIVE
Matteo Perini - NATIONAL STEWARD


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Track info.

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Am I mistaken or the name Vitantonio Liuzzi comes very often on the list of Race Stewards ?

 

So by race 8 we will be were we would have been if we had open testing in the off season. This means the first 7 races, inlcuding this weekend, are all hype and hope and gossip. I'm going to pass again on Friday and Saturday. I'll get everything I need to know during the warm up lap.

 

Also, the next GP following Imola is Monaco, which is just a lottery, IMO.
So, the season will really start in earnest in June at the 9th GP in Canada, by which time most of the cars will be debugged, and the drivers fairly acquainted with them.

 

I think there may be a ZTL just out of picture as I was caught there a couple of years back

 

Autosport provides this update:

Imola brings back gravel traps to help drive away F1’s track limits problem
Formula 1’s push to shake off problems with track limits has prompted the expansion of gravel traps at Imola.
Jonathan NobleMay 16, 2024, 10:44 AM

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Photo by: Emanuele Clivati | AG Photo

As F1 drivers begin their circuit walks ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the most notable changes they will notice are in various run-off areas around the Italian venue.

Key areas of the circuit have been reconfigured, with previous asphalt run off areas being reduced and replaced with gravel traps.

They are on the exit of Piratella, where the gravel trap now runs much closer to the edge of the circuit on the right-hand side.

Then the asphalt run off on the outside of Acque Minerali has also been dramatically reduced and replaced with gravel, which will leave no room for error as the cars swoop through that turn.

There is also now a gravel trap on the exit of Variante Alta which means any mistake drivers make in this area, like Charles Leclerc’s spin in the 2022 grand prix, would likely mean a permanent exit.

The revamped run-off areas were already in place before last month's World Endurance Championship round at Imola.

The change in approach regarding gravel traps comes amid some pushback about the growth of asphalt run offs in recent years.

While asphalt gave drivers room for error and meant mistakes were not terminally punished, they also opened the door to problems with track limits abuse amid F1’s latest stance.

This reached a peak at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix where the lack of gravel traps were regarded as a contributing factor in drivers running wide repeatedly – and there being 1200 offences counted over the course of the race.

The Red Bull Ring circuit is expected to make changes for this year, with it also understood that Monza will make modifications at some corners for this year’s Italian GP.

As part of the revamp of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit a few years ago, more gravel traps were added – something drivers especially liked.

Carlos Sainz said at the time: “Welcome back gravel and pray for more gravel in the future, and grass and everything

“Because it's exactly what I think we all need to make the circuits nice and spectacular again.”

Imola has also made changes to kerbs – reinstalling double layers at various corners around the track.

They have been put on the left-hand side of Turns 2, 4, 5, 9 and 19 and on the right-hand side of Turns 3, 6, 11 and 12. They have also been added to the exit of Turn 15 (Variante Alta).

 

All good stuff ! Bravo Imola !

A narrow strip of grass (or astroturf) followed by a "kitty litter" is all that is needed to stop the track limit abuses of recent years.
The proliferarion of tarmac run off "boulevards" on many circuits during the last decades has led to lower driving standards, and were an invitation to attempt impossible passes without consequences.

I hope more circuits will follow. We are looking at you and your Turn 1, Red Bull Ring !!!