Why Ferrari F1 changed its plans with its experimental ground in Qatar

Ferrari I came back again Qatar with its experimental floor, by mounting it in the car Charles Leclerc for the first free workouts after Carlos Sainz in Las Vegas.

Although it had been assumed that the single free practice session of a sprint weekend would see the floor installed for a few races then shelved until Abu Dhabi, it was in fact in Leclerc's car for all week and weekend.

This floor was initially tasked with getting real information on design solutions that may or may not be present in the 2025 car.

However, it is understood that early feedback from its drivers suggests that the floor, while perhaps not offering a huge performance boost, has at least helped with the car's balance, prompting Leclerc to change plans to run with him.

The changes to this floor, which are quite substantial compared to the previous spec, provide a bridge between two different development streams, where some old ideas that didn't work in the past have been revisited.

This speaks for itself of the better correlation between its simulation tools and the real environment, after.

Ferrari, like its rivals, has often had correlation problems in this regulatory era, as this generation of cars is easily disrupted by ride height fluctuations.

The new floor is interesting for several reasons, as no specific design path has been adjusted.

In fact, it is a complete upgrade that encompasses the floor sills, forward expansion of the subfloor, floor edge and diffuser ramp sidewall.

The most interesting aspect of this revision that we can see is the design of the spoiler lip, as we have already seen on Ferrari, in 2022 and 2023.

The team saw fit to go in a different direction when they were unable to deliver the performance they expected.

The thinner L-shaped rear section of the spoiler has also been seen on other cars, suggesting it's a solution that looks good by the numbers, but may only need to be upgraded. other pieces of the puzzle fall into place to get the most out of it.

For example, this variant not only has a flatter surface in relation to the ground over its entire length, but the proportion of surface occupied by the edge of the spoiler over its entire length has been modified, in relation to the edge of the ground which there has. is on your side.

In the meantime, they also had to adapt the metal supports, as the required degree of flexibility may vary somewhat from their current design.

Of course, we will not know the extent of all the changes that have been made to the ground, because there is clearly a set of corresponding alterations that have been made to the subsurface, which are not visible.

What is clear, however, is that the team will feel like they are moving in the right direction with their current and future plans.

New Alpine spoiler

New nose of the Alpine A524, Qatar GP

arrived at the Qatar Grand Prix with new parts for the A524as the team began to evaluate another design path ahead of what will likely be its direction by 2025.

A new front wing and nose, designed to complement each other, were tested on the car. Pierre Gasly in Qatar, while the team is to receive another set of coins for in Abu Dhabi.

The change to the nose is what essentially opened up this avenue of development, and the nose section is now narrower and squarer across the entire front end.

The overall length of the structure was reduced so that it rested on the second element of the front wing, rather than on the main plane.

This led to a reconfiguration of the main plane elements and secondary ailerons to better accommodate the airflow and pressure characteristics posed by the modifications to the nose.

There is also now another metal slotted spacer bracket mounted on either side of the nose tip between the two front wing elements.

Alpine A524 Front Spoiler Comparison (Featured)

The upper ailerons have also been revised as a result of the aforementioned changes, and the previously arched trailing edge of the upper aileron is completely flattened (dashed yellow line) and a more even distribution of chord along the wingspan is applied to the two fins.

In addition, the static sections of these upper flaps (marked with a circle) have also been modified and, due to the narrower nose, now have a more exposed surface than before, so their geometry has been optimized in depending on the new air flow conditions for which they are intended. exposed.