Ferrari F150o – Comparison between all front wing versions raced and tested over 2011 season

             A Front wing version that is used in a certain race is highly linked to the circuit special characteristics , with the most important of which to be the downforce level .Thus we expect from teams to race similar or even the same front wing for circuits of similar downforce level  .

              To simplify the study ,circuits are categorized according to relative downforce level into sub groups

Circuit	Downforce level
Italy	Very low
Canada	Low
Korea , Belgium	Medium
India ,  Abu Dhabi  , Brazil , Great Britain , Europe (Valencia) ,  China , Malaysia	Medium/high
Australia , Japan ,  Germany  (Nürburgring) ,  Spain , Turkey	High
Singapore ,  Hungary , Monaco	Very High

      Some of  other characteristics of 2012 circuits useful  to explain front wing  option at each race are summarized below

	main characteristics
Bahrain	out of 2011 calendary
Australia	minimal grip levels because it is a street track
Malaysia	high-speed corners, rapid changes of direction and slow hairpins
China	compromise between slow-speed grip and straightline speed
Turkey	fast turns and a slow section
Spain	a variety of medium, high-speed and slow-speed corners
Monaco	tight hairpins and corners
Canada	Good traction out of the slow corners and stability over the bumps is important
Europe (Valencia)	Top speed but good grip in slow turns and chicanes
Great Britain	fast turns
Germany  (Nürburgring)	mix of cornes , hairpins
Hungary	narrow track with slow and medium fast corners
Belgium	combination of slow, medium and fast corners together with long ‘straights’
Italy	lowest levels of drag
Singapore	high kerbs , slow corners
Japan	high-speed technical corners
Korea	Long straights, hairpins and a very narrow final sector
India	combination of slow corners and high-speed straights
Abu Dhabi	compromise between the contrasting fast and slow sectors
Brazil	perfect mix of medium and slow speed corners, long, fast straights , very bumpy

 

     In total Ferrari tested on track over 2012 season ( including pre season testing ) at least thirteen types of front wing but only the ten of which were used in race .There were even races where Alonso andMassa raced different wing specs .

Analysis on all wing specs

WING SPEC	DEBUT	Analysis ( click on link)
1st	Launch	Link1
2nd	Barcelona test on March	Link2
3rd	Barcelona test on March	Link3
4th	China , only tested	Link4
5th	China , only tested	Link5
6th	Spain , tested only	Link6
7th	Monaco	Link7
8th	Canada	Link8
9th	Hungary , tested only	Link9
10th	Belgium	Link10
11th	Belgium	Link11
12th	Korea	Link12
13th	Abu Dhabi & Brazil	Link13

The spec raced by each driver at each race  :

		Australia	Malaysia	China	Turkey	Spain	Monaco
Front Wing   Alonso		3rd	3rd	3rd	5th	5th	7th
Front Wing  Massa		3rd	3rd	3rd	5th	5th	7th

	Canada	Europe	G.Britain	Germany	Hungary	Belgium
Front Wing  Alonso	8th	6th	6th	6th	6th	11th
Front Wing  Massa	8th	8th	6th	6th	6th	10th

	Italy	Singapore	Japan	Korea	India	Abu Dhabi	Brazil
Front Wing  Alonso	10th	9th	9th	12th	12th	12th	13th
Front Wing  Massa	10th	9th	9th	9th	12th	9th	12th

     

      Summarizing all the data the wing specs can be categorized as follows  : 

Wing spec	Downforce level of circuits that the wing spec was raced / tested
3rd	Medium/high , High
4th refined 3rd spec	Medium/high , High
5th new design	High
6th refined 5th spec	Medium/high Very High
7th New design	Very High
8th Modified 7th spec	Low Medium/high
9th Modified 6th spec	Medium Medium/high High Very High
10th Refined 7th spec	Medium
11th New design  (hybrid design between 7th and 10th spec)	Medium
12th New design	Medium Medium/high
13th   refined 12th spec	Medium Medium/high

Conclusion

      Development rate effects mainly wing’s  individual characteristics but rarely the basic structure-design of the wing itself . That is because any serious wing change reveals a more aggressive development or in some cases car balance issues or even both . Usually teams prefer to refine and improve an already efficient wing rather than race totally new designs . Another good approach is to see what rivals do and copy some of their solutions if of course suit to your cars’s special aerodynamic behavior .

     Having the previous in mind we can say that Ferrari launched

• 5 new front wing specs  ( 1^st , 5^th , 7^th , 11^th , 12^th )
• 8 front wing specs considered modifications of standard designs  (2^nd , 3^rd , 4^th , 6^th , 8^th , 9^th , 10^th 13^th )
• 1 front wing spec based on a rival team design (the 12^th is based on  Red Bull ‘s design)

      It is common to see teams fighting for championship to launch several front wing specs but for Ferrari case the 13 specs are simply too many . The large number reflects somehow the team’s struggle  to close the speed gap between the F150o and Red Bull RB7, having at the same time a car  that faced balance issues early in the season .

Ferrari F150o – Stiffened front wing to reduce wing’s flexibility in Abu Dhabi and Brazil

               The Korean front wing showed excessive movement over the vertical axis that even in some occasions the endplates touched  the ground releasing sparks (this phenomenon was seen on Massa’s car at India) .In an attempt to reduce the wing’s vertical movement , Ferrari strengthened the main plane close to wing’s neutral central zone at Abu Dhabi and further at Brazil  . Only Alonso raced the stiffened wing  in Brazil .