After the end of the 2015 F1 season, fans have turned their attention to 2016 and, in particular, to one of the most interesting moments of the year: the launch of the new cars. The team that would have worked more on the car during the winter, compared to the other teams, would be Ferrari. As we told you here on CircusF1.com, the car should be presented online on February 19, just some days before the start of the first test of the season in Barcelona.
Thanks to the many rumors proposed by Italian press, we can understand more on the guidelines of the 2016 Ferrari.
Let’s start with the front of the car, one of the key areas of the new car. As reported by “La Gazzetta dello Sport” and by” Autosprint“, after years of pull-rod suspension, Ferrari would have finally decided to return to a push-rod suspension. Over the years, fans blamed the the pull-rod suspension, describing it as the reason for lack of competitiveness of the last Ferraris. After its introduction on the F2012 by Nicholas Tombazis and Pat Fry, James Allison would have decided to go back to something more classical and more practical, the push-rod suspension. The push-rod suspension would make easier, for engineers, finding the set-up during the race weekend. The lower triangle, however, will remain the same that Ferrari adopted on the SF15-T, following the analogous idea introduced in 2014 by Mercedes. Other small changes at the front would be for the brake cooling ducts, which will be redesigned. The front brake calipers, now horizontally in style Red Bull, will remain in the same position, after the good results last year.
Regarding the front of the car there will be other changes: according to rumors, Ferrari engineers have decided to leave the long nose of the SF15-T, switch to a short nose, as many teams did last year: actually James Allison revealed that in Maranello the team had started to work on the short nose before the summer break of 2015. Autosprint reports that, however, Ferrari decided to stop the development of the short nose, to develop other parts of the SF15-T. The short nose, however, after further analysis, should be proposed on the 2016 Ferrari: according to Autosprint, Ferrari’s short nose would be similar to the one adopted by Toro Rosso last season. This solution allows increasing the section between the main plane and the front wing supports, to get more air underneath the centre of the car and improving the downforce generated at the front: in this way, Ferrari will try to balance, from the aerodynamic point of view, the front with the new rear of the car. In fact, Ferrari engineers will try to increase downforce also at the rear, making tighter the rear of the car. Also “Omnicorse” has confirmed that we will see on the new Ferrari a short nose, but according to them, it would be similar to the one used in 2015 by Mercedes. Always about the fron of the car, Autosprint reports that Ferrari’s engineers could also adopt on the car, during the 2016 season, a solution already seen last season, the S-Duct: it is almost sure that we will not see the S-Duct at the launch of the car, but it’s not to exclude the possibility to see it during 2016.
About 6 months ago, our friends of NewsF1.it made a video about the new Ferrari’s short nose: there will be some changes (compared to the one of the video), but the idea should be the almost the same.
[youtube height=”439″ width=”780″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESkRvrxJBmM[/youtube]
Now we can move on, and we can focus on the central part of the car, talking about the sidepods and the Power Unit. One of the main problems of the SF15-T were the sidepods (and the rear): too large compared the other top teams. The rear was not tight as the one of other top teams, like Red Bull and McLaren (that, despite the 2015 season, was a good car from the aerodynamic point of view). Even compared to Mercedes’ W06, the rear of the SF15-T was a bit too large. However, this gap from the other top teams will be reduced with the new car: the problem of the size of the side pods was, mainly, for the dimension and the position of some elements of the power unit (crankcase, MGU-K, bigger turbo etc.). In Maranello, engine engineers have worked hard during the second half of 2015 and over the winter to move and improve some elements of the power unit, trying to create a tighter unit: in this way, engineers will have more freedom in designing the rear of the new car.
At Maranello, engine engineers have worked hard especially on the power unit. As reported by “Autospint” and by “La Gazzetta dello Sport”, the MGU-K will be in a different position: not behind the engine, as in 2015, but on the left side of the engine. The intercooler should be removed from the “V”, and it will be positioned, presumably, in the chassis. Some changes also for the MGU-H and the new crankcase, now tighter than the one of last year. These changes should allow engineers to work with more freedom to improve downforce at the rear. Already in 2014 Ferrari tried to create a tighter but now engineers have a better knowledge of the new hybrid engines, and this allows them to not repeat the mistakes made two seasons ago. Another small change would be for the radiators: engineers could change the inclination of the radiators of a few degrees.
In conclusion, now we can focus on the rear of the car: the major changes will be the gearbox and the engine cover, completely new. Ferrari engineers worked very hard to reduce the size of the gearbox, obtaining rigidity values never reached before. Small changes also for the rear suspension: it will be always a pull-rod, suspension, but the size of some components will be changed, to create more mechanical grip and, consequently, traction, trying to improve also the use of the hardest compound (of tyres). Last news is that Ferrari should change also some parts of the diffuser, making it different from the one we saw last year.
