2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[sucof]

I repeated so many times:
Why not allow flexible wings, instead of active aero??
Much less complex, much more reliable.
Just allow more flexing than is currently in the regs. But have an upper limit of course.

Because flexible wings can even come close to the amount of drag reduction active aero can.

This is just a guess, and is also false.

[sucof]

I repeated so many times:
Why not allow flexible wings, instead of active aero??
Much less complex, much more reliable.
Just allow more flexing than is currently in the regs. But have an upper limit of course.

More expensive and complex to develop and harder to police.

[dans79]

I repeated so many times:
Why not allow flexible wings, instead of active aero??
Much less complex, much more reliable.
Just allow more flexing than is currently in the regs. But have an upper limit of course.

Because flexible wings can even come close to the amount of drag reduction active aero can.

This is just a guess, and is also false.

Tell me how many degrees you think a wing would have to flex backwards, to nullify all the DF it generates in it's normal orientation. Now Compare that to a wing element that can flip to almost any orientation the team desires to nullify the DF it generates in it's normal orientation.

You are also forgetting extremely flexible wings would be a big problem on corners like 130R, Copse, Eau Rouge. Active aero doesn't have this issue because the driver has control of the wing elements.

[aberracus]

I repeated so many times:
Why not allow flexible wings, instead of active aero??
Much less complex, much more reliable.
Just allow more flexing than is currently in the regs. But have an upper limit of course.

More expensive and complex to develop and harder to police.

This video is excellent and proves the red bull problem is in its wing mechanism design. cheaper wing cheaper results

[Brahmal]

I'm sure I remember reading that the Ferrari drivers are closing the wing manually. I bet Red Bull aren't doing that which could also be causing some issues.

Afaik the RB wing issue is it does not close properly at some point which has nothing to do with automatic/manual control. Im more inclined to say, as others allude to, the mechanism itself is not robust due to excessive weight savings or similar

Correct me if I'm wrong, but both of these failures happened on high-speed corners. Aero loads can shift pretty dramatically under yaw conditions, so if RBR is closing their wing "late" into these corners that could be a contributing factor. I'm wondering if just closing their wing early on certain corners could solve their problem, as the system seems to work fine outside of this particular edge case.

[Luscion]

https://autoracer.it/ferrari-silverston ... sta-lotta/

Loïc Serra reportedly reaffirmed that the SF-26 development program is meeting expectations. The updates introduced so far have provided encouraging feedback, and the car's evolution plan will continue with the same determination in the upcoming races. In Maranello there is no intention of slowing down: every available development margin will be exploited to further increase the car's competitiveness. On the power unit front, Enrico Gualtieri reportedly updated staff on the progress of the ADUO project. According to reports, the slot allocated for the introduction of the new turbocharger, planned as part of the ADUO 2 package, should be available within five Grands Prix, with the goal of arriving at the Madrid race with the new configuration.

This update represents one of the most significant interventions planned for the Ferrari engine, designed to improve the power unit's overall efficiency and continue the performance recovery made possible by the development opportunities allowed under FIA regulations. At the same time, the engine department is already looking to the future. During the meeting it was reportedly confirmed that bench development activities have already begun on the future ADUO power unit destined for 2027, demonstrating how Ferrari is simultaneously carrying forward work on the current season and on the next generation of engines. The message that emerged from the meeting is clear: Silverstone reinforced the internal conviction that the path taken is the right one. Now the goal is to keep pushing, development after development, race after race, keeping alive the belief that they can remain in the fight for the entire second half of the season.

[AR3-GP]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but both of these failures happened on high-speed corners. Aero loads can shift pretty dramatically under yaw conditions, so if RBR is closing their wing "late" into these corners that could be a contributing factor. I'm wondering if just closing their wing early on certain corners could solve their problem, as the system seems to work fine outside of this particular edge case.

What if there are random crosswinds? In my opinion, the solution is not in trying to "hide" from yaw. It's just to make a more robust design. Wind can reproduce yaw aerodynamics and wind is unpredictable.

[sucof]

Because flexible wings can even come close to the amount of drag reduction active aero can.

This is just a guess, and is also false.

Tell me how many degrees you think a wing would have to flex backwards, to nullify all the DF it generates in it's normal orientation. Now Compare that to a wing element that can flip to almost any orientation the team desires to nullify the DF it generates in it's normal orientation.

You are also forgetting extremely flexible wings would be a big problem on corners like 130R, Copse, Eau Rouge. Active aero doesn't have this issue because the driver has control of the wing elements.

I think you approach this from the wrong direction.
With active aero, you only have 2 different modes. You do not complain about which is how good or bad or perfect in this or that situation. While it is also a system that needs adapting to.
A flexi wing is also something that is not optimal in every scenario, so it also needs adapting.
None of these will be perfect, and one shall accept this.
However with flexi wings, the car will have a much more gradual change in situations, to which even the driver can develop a feeling. It will be a lot more predictable.
It might have less downforce in high speed corners, but F1 cars always had different levels of downforce throughout the history, when rules changed or cars developed.
The main thing is if your downforce is predictable and does not do like the RB wing, suddenly loosing DF. It also does not have any mechanical or electrical or timing errors.
It has much less weight to it. Etc etc.
Wings always did flex, so there would be nothing new, just its strength.

[Brahmal]

What if there are random crosswinds? In my opinion, the solution is not in trying to "hide" from yaw. It's just to make a more robust design. Wind can reproduce yaw aerodynamics and wind is unpredictable.

The role of crosswinds is something I'm curious about. I know they can upset the aero balance over the whole vehicle, but can they apply enough force to specifically damage individual components? I wonder how windy it would have to be for F1 to actually cancel or delay a race?

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see whether RBR can fix their flap design without losing so much performance that their concept no longer makes sense. Either the weight penalty of beefed up components, or aero penalty of having to add additional structure like diagonal braces (assuming that would even be legal), could add up quickly. I would say that Ferrari's engineers must be laughing up their sleeves at all this, but they are probably feverishly investigating any other edge cases that they hadn't considered when validating their own design.

[venkyhere]

So much 'stuff' flying around about the 'Redbull mechanism' both in forums and media.
What made this wing 'fine' before Austria ? The car was much more unbalanced, was generating lesser overall downforce, and had all kinds of under/over steer (shifting balance) in corners, with drivers complaining all the time. Why didn't this 'wing problem' show up then ? The drivers were as likely to 'press the button late' pre-Austria. Plus, both team and driver have openly admitted that the 'wing didn't close properly' & didn't say 'wing closed late'. I don't have any reason to believe that the problem is anything other than the 'mechanism' of the actuator+hinges not working optimally in the face of 'load'. But then, why were they working well before Austria ?
There is only one answer - weight saving. They must have done something to the wing assembly or the wing itself or the SLM mechanism, to save weight, and miscalculated the mechanical robustness against instantaneous peak loads (changing wind + closing 'against' high pressure air), that must have exposed a flaw with the actuator+hinge mechanism that causes it to 'stop closing' before reaching final position. The team probably has a simple solution already (corner case bug exposed only in the 'field') and might fix this next race itself.
Until then, we can read/watch tons of content about how the problem is aerodynamic, rather than mechanical.