F10 floor and sidepod panels revisions at Bahrain

Launch

During  February test at Barcelona the team introduced  new front floor’s side fences  . The vertical fence  blocks the upper air flow coming from the inner bargeboard-body zone from exiting out of the floor surface and mixing up with the “bleeding” portions of air coming under the chassis . Any contact between the two flow layers would create unwanted turbulence .  To reduce drag the old fence featured a small slit . The new fence shape is generally much simpler and it becomes higher towards the rear . Moreover the floor section under the new fence is rising slightly up to ease the air coming out from this point instead of coming later from the back and mixing up with the upper airflow layer . Of course the ideal would be to seal air from exiting under the chassis with curtains but this is forbidden by the rules ( ground effect )  .

Apart form the new fence another evolution took place to the sidepod panel where an additional triangular fin was added  to the lower panel surface . This extra fin  helps  reducing  drag by creating  vortexes towards the rear of the car .

Bahrain

Ferrari exhaust outlets configuration from Launch to Hungary

Ferrari , Launch – Periscope exhausts

 

       Ferrari initially started the season with periscope exhausts while later at Valencia(following Red Bull’s RB6 path ) presented a new exhaust system located lower , close to the floor and inside the rear tyres zone .  This new exhaust system configuration called EBD (Exhaust Blown Diffuser )  helps to energize the rear diffuser with hot exhaust emissions boosting downforce production .

 

  Valencia –   standard  version                                        

        At Silverstone and during free testing sessions Ferrari had its EBD pipes cut off at their end  to permit a  stronger interaction of the hot exhaust gases with the rear side airflow coming around the sidepods bottoms  . This configuration was replaced by  a new one with elongated pipes towards the rear end to blow hot emissions stronger to the diffuser . The later revision remained for the race .

Silverstone , tested  – cut off version

Both specs , the cut off and the elongated pipes configuration , can be considered to be extremities of the original design  ( for less and stronger interaction with the diffuser respectively ) .

Silverstone , race –   elongated   version

      Another modification was the addition of a heat protective floor element behind the exhaust outlets covering the rear wheel – car body floor inner zone .

   Hockenheim , race  – new elongated version

      At Hockenheim a new elongated version with cut off inner surface was presented . During free runs the team tested also a modified rear floor configuration with heat metallic covers behind the exhaust outlet but the use of them was later regarded  unnecessary and were removed for race to save weight in favor of ballast . Nevertheless despite the removal of the metal covers the rear floor gained an extra thick lighter carbon cover .

Hockenheim , tested – metal heat protective covers