Ferrari deployed new sidewalls and floor in Spain, which are to be the basis of further development.
A week after Mercedes showed the world their interpretation of toboggan sides, so did the Ferrari stable. It looks like it’s starting to gradually move away from its unique style of sidewalls and joins the trend that all teams except Haas are now following.
The Ferrari design was characterized by the characteristic bulge of the upper side. Such shaping was intended to keep the hot air discharged from the gill openings at the top of the sidewalls near the center of the car and direct it into the space between the rear and lower wings.
At the same time, it allowed the engine cover to be as slim as possible, giving Ferrari an advantage over teams that use tunnels on the sides of the engine cover to remove hot air.
The advantage was less blockage of the flow to the rear wing and lower aerodynamic resistance due to the reduction of the frontal area of the body.
Looking at the new SF-23 sidewalls from above, you can also see the asymmetric distribution of the gills.
Photo: Activepictures / Jiří Křenek
The new sidewalls are a sort of hybrid between the original Ferrari design and the toboggan sidewall concept. (1) The half of the side closer to the car’s center plane retains its original shape with a high-set and bulging top. (2) The outer half, in turn, slopes backwards towards the floor, thus slanting the flow in its vicinity downwards (in English, the term “downwash” is used for this phenomenon).
Comparison of the new body (top) and the previous version (bottom); source: Getty Images
In the front part, the sidewalls have a deepened undercut. But the fundamental change did not come without compromises. The slimming of the Ferrari sidewalls is greatly limited by the high position of the lower side impact structure. It can be seen on the body where it is located (3) bulge, and the more the surrounding body becomes slimmer, the more pronounced this bulge is.
Comparison of the new body (left) and the previous version (right); source: Getty Images
Clipping is probably related to changes in the flow around the new sidewalls (4) ailerons above the rearview mirror. Wings above and below the rear-view mirror reduce the amount of flooding created by the mirror and also help divert dirty air behind the front wheels away from the body, allowing a higher energy flow to reach the rear of the car.
The shaping was also adjusted (5) systems of ailerons and vanes on the sides of the protective arch, which direct the flow around the cockpit further to the engine cover and the rear wing.
In the area of the floor, Ferrari pays considerable attention to its edges. This is the third such upgrade on the SF-23 model.
The most noticeable changes at the edge of the floor; source: Getty Images
The corner of the floor in front of the rear wheel is raised and added to the floor at this point (6) notch, thanks to which air from the upper side of the floor can penetrate more easily under the floor. There it strengthens the vortex, which on its underside spreads along the entire edge to the diffuser, where it increases the negative pressure and prevents the penetration of dirty air blowing from the rear wheel.
A twin of this vortex on top of the floor is generated (7) the upper edge of the vortex generator on the outer edge of the floor.
Newly, the trailing edge of this vortex generator has split into two smaller edges, which may indicate an attempt to split one strong vortex into two smaller ones to join further downstream.
(8) The floor wing is now much more aggressively curved. The flow in this area expands outwards and the increased curvature of the floor edge allows for increased local loads.
Comparison of the old and new side solutions
2023-06-02 19:24:44
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