Ferrari F138 – Rear wing , Melbourne spec

D spec – second Barcelona test on March

       At second Barcelona test one more new wing spec appeared which at a first glimpse looks alike with the previous version but any similarity collapses with a closer look in details . The upper part of the wing is completely new , it has new endplates with a less intense cut on top and shortened gills which allowed the construction of a longer second flap, all changes to improve downforce production . Finally the new spec gives more freedom for mechanics to adjust the attack angle of the flaps as it sports additional adjustment points on the outer section of the endplates for that cause .

      The D spec came by with a new higher downforce front wing to keep the aerodynamic balance of the car unaffected .

At Melbourne and Sepang Ferrari discarded the beam winglet favoring greater top speed  but kept the rest wing characteristics unchanged .

E spec  –  Melbourne and Sepang

Related articles

• Ferrari F138 – Rear wing , Jerez test updates (formula1techandart.wordpress.com)
• Ferrari F138 – winter testing (pre season) tech summary (formula1techandart.wordpress.com)

Ferrari F138 – Rear wing , Jerez test updates

B and C specs – Jerez test on February

     A revised wing ( B spec) made its debut at the first pre season test at Jerez having an additional single profiled winglet ( also called beam winglet or monkey seat), which was mounted on the allowed centre zone of the beam wing to increase the overall efficiency of the wing .

     Later during the Jerez test Ferrari attached on the trailing tip of the second flap (highlighted in yellow , C spec – inset) a large gurney tab . Gurney tab makes the wing act like having a larger chord than it actually does and moreover allow steeper flap angles preventing stalling, hence produce more downforce with a small drag penalty.

Related articles

• Ferrari F138 – winter testing (pre season) tech summary (formula1techandart.wordpress.com)

Ferrari F138 – rear wing, launch version

A spec – Launch
blue arrows show the airflow extraction from the vaned endplates

   F138 since launch was gifted with an innovative rear wing, which sports vaned endplates. They, accompanied by multiple blade shaped elements hanging from the endplate bottom, help to extract air from inside the endplate’s zone to the outside hence improve the efficiency of both the diffuser and the wing itself . The DRS activation mechanism is also much slimmer than last year .

Related articles

• Ferrari F138 – winter testing (pre season) tech summary (formula1techandart.wordpress.com)
• Ferrari F138 – technical specifications (formula1techandart.wordpress.com)

Ferrari F138 – winter testing (pre season) tech summary

Chassis :  F138

Engine :Ferrari typo 056

 

    Ferrari eager to claim the champions from the start of the season and F138 seems capable of playing that role . On the contrary F2012 faced serious performance issues from its first day on track . The most eye catching features on the new F138 is the large chassis duct under the nose to feed chassis electronics with cooling air and  improve the undernose aerodynamic efficiency at the same time , oversized front wing pillars and vaned rear wing endplates . Detailed changes to the design of the front and rear brake ducts  also occurred .  Finally the driveshaft is also housed inside the lower wishbone of the rear suspension system for drag reduction like Mc Laren, Mercedes  and Red Bull .

Winter testing updates :

     Ferrari practiced every possible aid to collect and evaluate track data , such as pitot rakes , fluorescent paint and sensors housed around the car . All the previous mentioned come and gone according to testing needs . However a heat sensor is planted permanently  inside the support of  sidepod panel to monitor front tyre temperature.

    Speaking about the changes that took place from launch the major ones are the following

– at Jerez Ferrari tried cockpit gills to aid cooling and a new wider chassis duct to aid cockpit ventilation

– at Barcelona test on February the exhausts pipeline gained an additional support to decrease vibration and a revised engine cover to improve cooling further.

– at last pre season test at Barcelona numerous updates added on the car including  a new front wing , longitudinally vanes on nose cone sides, revised exhaust outlets , new diffuser and rear wing .

 

 

EVALUATION :

Aerodynamic performance :  seems to have overcome last season rear end stability issues

Speed :. Very fast on low fuel load but average on long runs under heavy fuel load

Tyres management  :   quite consistent but suffers  degradation leading to significant and gradually  lap time loss . The problem seems to be worse on medium and hard compound

Reliability  :  overheating issues came up at Jerez but seems to be gone now. Massa also suffered a suspension upright failure

 

 

 

Vaned rear wing endplates                      

 

 – Internal ducts to feed different components inside the sidepod tunnels

– a heat sensor is planted permanently  inside the support of  sidepod

 panel to monitor front tyre temperature.

 

 

Related articles

• Ferrari F138 – technical specifications (formula1techandart.wordpress.com)

2013 F1 cars – Nose Fairing patterns

 

        Despite the fact that FIA attempted to discourage teams from exploiting the nose fairing and gaining aero advantage over it, many teams bypassed the regulations spirit and developed elegant structures both to gain  improved airflow over the nose and keep the weight penalty due to the added fairing as low as possible . To be honest this was something more than expected as many changes caused the opposite effect than the wanted    one, with the recent ban of the blown diffuser to be the best example. The only team which does not need a fairing is Marussia because of its low chassis .

       Ferrari, Mc Laren, Force India, Williams and Toro Rosso followed a conservative pattern as shown in the illustration below

Ferrari , Mc Laren , Force India, Williams , Toro Rosso
A full cover from stepped point to the nose tip , highlighted in orange color .

 

         Sauber developed a unique “ Π ” shaped fairing to create a deep channel on top of  the nose, separating the air stream flowing over the nose with the one flowing at sides .

Sauber – Π concept

 

   Red Bull’s dwarf fairing is an outcome of the desire to limit the fairing dimensions to the minimum required for opted aero efficiency so as to keep the extra weight as low as possible .

Red Bull – dwarf fairing

 

    Mercedes evolved further last season arched nose . Instead of being flat at the top it has an intense arched shape and a more smooth  bulkhead height  transition . This is to reduce drag by diverting the air flowing above the nose tip towards the  nose sides while the main flow is channeled smoothly over the bulkhead  , all aiming lower drag production . The optical result of this pattern resembles to a duck nose .

Mercedes – duck fairing

 

 

       Finally Caterham and  Lotus  rejected the possibility of fixing a weight costly fairing and instead developed a sculpted chassis on top, thus forming a smoother airpath for drag cut . However Caterham features a deeper and a more obvious sculpted area than Lotus does .

Caterham and Lotus – sculpted chassis

 

 

        It is of high possibility to see teams developing further their initial idea or even coping rivals patterns . It is good to remember that the nose fairing,  as all new designs, needs to be examined and studied further , unless FIA decides to make regulations even stricter .

 

 

Related articles

• 2013 season – A goodbye to stepped noses (formula1techandart.wordpress.com)

Ferrari F138 – technical specifications

 

Chassis
Carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite structure
Ferrari longitudinal gearbox
Limited-slip differential
Semiautomatic sequential electronically
Controlled gearbox – quick shift
Number of gears 7 +Reverse
Brembo ventilated carbon-fibre disc brakes
Independent suspension, pull-rod activated torsion springs front and rear
Weight with water, lubricant and driver 642 kg
OZ Wheels (front and rear) 13”

Engine
Type 056
Number of cylinders 8
Cylinder block in sand cast aluminium V 90°
Number of valves 32
Pneumatic distribution
Total displacement 2398 cm3
Piston bore 98 mm
Weight > 95 kg
Electronic injection and ignition
Fuel Shell V-Power
Lubricant Shell Helix Ultra