Ferrari SF-24 EVO: discovering the Imola updates!

(Cover picture: Scuderia Ferrari)

For a few Grand Prix's now, there's been a lot of talk in the Formula 1 paddock about the updates that Ferrari had in store for the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, in Imola. These updates were actually fitted on both the SF-24s of Leclerc and Sainz, but the fans are still very uncertain about the validity of these parts: there are those who say that finishing the race in Imola just 8 seconds behind the winner Max Verstappen is proof that the novelties work, and on the other hand there are those who point out - despite the gaps in the last GP being very narrow - that McLaren is now firmly ahead of Ferrari, as well as Red Bull...

Let's take a step back, and try to analyze this large package of technical upgrades in detail.

Sidepod inlets are now reversed: the SF-24 has converted to Red Bull approach

The most anticipated novelty of all was that relating to the shape of the radiator inlets, which as we know dictate the entire bodywork downstream, i.e. the sidepods. On this matter, Red Bull has been leading the way for about a year, with solutions that after being implemented by the team from Milton Keynes, are copied (well, sort of...) months later by all its opponents, including Ferrari... The state-of-the-art, in this area, prescribes inlets with an upper edge way more pronounced than the lower one, whereas in the last "generation" of sidepod inlets the trend was exactly the opposite.

The SF-24 in Miami - Old solution (Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images)

The advantage for Red Bull is therefore chronological, because - thanks to aerodynamically clever solutions - they can afford to introduce geometries resulting from much more advanced studies than the other teams: in other words, the team of Verstappen and Perez is always one move ahead to everyone. But the latest races seem to show that this trend is coming to an end.

The SF-24 in Imola - New solution (Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images)

Coming to the new sidepod inlets of the Ferrari SF-24, it's a solution that has been implemented on the Red Bull RB20 since its presentation: so the team from Maranello is 3 months late, but last year their delay in development was even close to 12 months!

Therefore trying to analyze the reason for these aerodinamical choices, the main objective sought is a better airflow quality along the sidepods, a factor which - together with the other innovations that we'll discuss later - can bring the diffuser into better operating conditions, where it will be able to produce more (stable) downforce.

Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The shape of these new inlets is also dictated by some safety regulatory constraints, namely the already known SIPS ("Side Impact Protection Structures") which have long been mandatory. Often and (un)willingly, it happens that the technical departments of the Formula 1 teams have to deal with the positioning of these SIPS in areas that they would prefer to be completely dedicated to aerodynamic purposes: net of this, as can be seen in the photo above of the SF-24 EVO, Ferrari decided to integrate the new radiator inlets into the vertical fin which at the beginning of the year was used as a By-Pass Duct (a solution similar to the S-Duct, once very popular on the nosecones of many single-seaters).

Now the By-Pass Duct no longer exists, and having removed the outlet to which the mentioned vertical fin led, the latter has now been retained for the sole purpose of cooling. Although we will return to the cooling topic later on, it's important to underline that the aerodynamic choices described so far have certainly required a re-arrangement of the radiators. Although for now there are no picturesof the above-mentioned area, knowing the meticulousness of the engineers who work in Formula 1, I feel like saying that it's actually impossible that Ferrari could have changed the entire sidepods without moving a single radiator...

The maximized undercut can bring more air towards the diffuser

When we talk about having revolutionized the entire sidepods, we're not using an hyperbole, as on the single-seater that took to the track first at Fiorano (for the Filming Day) and then at Imola (for the race weekend) the entire sidepods had a different shape from the previous ones.

As you can see in the following picture - also comparing it with the previous shot, referred to the Miami race, the volume below the sidepod (that is called "undercut") is quite evident. This improvement was made possible, as mentioned, by the above-mentioned inversion in terms of length of the sidepod inlet edges themselves: when a greater air volume is channeled into that space, it will probably feed even more the upper side of the diffuser; considering that the latter works depending on the pressure differential between its upper side and its lower side, it will be able to generate much more downforce!

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Thinking about the view from above (following picture), we can observe some peculiar characteristics of the sidepod geometries brought to Imola, which in this case constitute an evolution of the initial concept of the SF-24: the exposed carbon fiber clearly underlines two long channels (often called "waterslides") whose task is, exactly as mentioned for the undercut, to feed the diffuser with air whose energy content is the highest possible.

Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

It is not surprising that much of the teams' technical effort is aimed at making the diffuser of their single-seaters work better: we know that since the 2022 Technical Regulations allowed an enhanced ground effect, the floor (and consequently the diffuser) determine a large percentage of the overall performance, so it's logical that the core of the budget available for the teams' Research and Development is channeled into these areas...

A horizontal cut appears on the floor's side edges: tyre squirt management?

From this perspective, the changes made to the side edges of the floor take on great importance... If on the one hand we can assume that other changes are hidden in the underfloor, without further pictures of that area we can only comment on the material at our disposal - as the slideshow by Carlo Platella, FormulaPassion correspondent at Imola, allows us to do.

As can be seen very well from the third of these photos, for instance, the element that quickly allows us to distinguish the new floor from the old one is a horizontal cut a few centimeters long, with the portion of the floor downstream (near the rear tyres) which is more curved.

The reason for this particular geometry likely lies in the creation of a "slotgap" capable - in optimal conditions - of shedding some vortices. Ideally, these vortices can be channeled into the space between the sidewall of the diffuser and the tyre wall, where the latter generates a turbulent airflow called "tyre squirt". Tyre squirt is a undesirable phenomenon from an aerodynamic point of view, because if this turbulent flow were to be ingested by the diffuser, both its ability to work in a stable manner (so avoding any stall phenomena) and its efficience would drastically decrease.

For this very purpose, there's the mentioned vortex, created by the slotgap on the side of the floor: this vortex, when is well calibrated with CFD and in the wind tunnel, can aerodynamically seal the surrounding area, thus limiting the tyre squirt to the close proximity of the rear tyre, where it's able to do less damage.

The engine cover and the rear wing are also completely new, but other specs are on the way...

Finally, let's close our analysis of the elements that make the SF-24 an "EVO" version talking about the engine cover and the rear wing, both in its mainplane and in the DRS flap. As you can see in the comparison between the two photos, respectively taken in Miami and Imola, the two above-mentioned elements are completely new: it's therefore worth focusing on both.

Engine cover and rear wing - Old solution (Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images)

Since the beginning of the year, Ferrari's engine cover has featured two bulges that extend from the cockpit right to the actual exhaust outlet. This is a feature also opted by McLaren and, in an even more extreme form, by Red Bull on their RB20. It's not easy to tell exactly what aerodynamic effects are sought with a similar solution, but the most widespread idea is that the function of these bulges is to straighten the airflow towards the rear wing, with the aim of making it work in more efficient conditions. To this it must be added that, by having a bodywork with these large curvatures, internal components' cooling becomes simpler and, consequently, less extreme.

On the SF-24 EVO the bulges just discussed are even more extended (photo below), to the point that the sidepods seem divided into two parts of comparable volume by the waterslides. This allowed them to reduce the number of "gills" for the heat dissipation from 3 to 1, with obvious benefits in terms of drag reduction...

Engine cover and rear wing - New solution (Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images)

Ultimately, as regards the rear wing, there are two notable changes to be discussed about the latest specification:

  • The connection between the mainplane and the endplates (which were once vertical fins, but are now connected to the wing through a radius) has a different geometry, aimed at reducing the vortices that are very easily generated in this area;
  • The DRS flap sees, at its extremities, some edges where previously it had a very rounded profile: if, on the one hand, the creation of vortex structures is increased (in antithesis with what was said in the previous bullet point), on the other hand it's possible to separate more clearly the airflows doirected to the pressure side and the suction side of the entire rear wing;

Both of these solutions seem to go in the direction of aerodynamic efficiency, reducing drag for a given amount of downforce produced.

Conclusion: did the updates work or not?

Let's start by saying that many of the innovations analyzed are clearly inspired by Red Bull, but on the other hand it can only be so as the track proclaimed the English-Austrian team as the clear dominator in the last two years.

However, one thing is to copy a technical solution and send the car on the track, but integrating it within a design that already has its own aerodynamic philosophy is a completely different story: the weekend in Imola showed that at Ferrari the engineers know well what they are doing... The proof lies in the fact that during all the free practice, on Friday (FP1 and FP2) and Saturday (FP3), very few setup changes were made: this is an indication of the fact that the new components didn't compromise the aero-mechanical balance of the SF-24, or at least the setup developed at the simulator in Maranello to take the new features into account provided already an optimal feedback on track.

This is very important news for Ferrari, because promoting the new parts immediately means giving green light to all the developments that are in the pipeline, with the desire to make incremental gains based on what was brought to Imola as the season continues.

Regarding the performance extracted, I agree with those who say that the SF-24 showed good improvements compared to the previous race weekends: with the exception of Miami and Melbourne (where Verstappen had to retire on lap 2) , the race in Imola was the first in which Ferrari paid a gap of less than 0.1 s/lap from the lead, a factor that saw Leclerc closing the 63 scheduled laps just under 8.0 s from the winner Verstappen.

The bad news for Ferrari lies in the performance of McLaren, which instead, thanks to the upgrades brought to Miami, made such a huge leap in performance as to overtake Ferrari and come close to Red Bull, with the concrete possibility of performing even better when the track conditions allow them to do so (see the whole race in Miami and the second stint of the race in Imola). Nonetheless, I believe that - also thanks to the changes covered in this article - the Ferrari SF-24 has even more potential to unlock, so the fight to become the dominant force in Formula 1 is far from over!

Categories

Reading time: minutes
Back to blog