Ferrari SF-26

[PlatinumZealot]

Hope they try the redbull solution to the barge board.

[Brahmal]

How do you think this management of the front wheel wake takes place: either by creating a low-pressure zone that will pull the front wheel wake inboard (or rather outboard), or with the help of the strakes under the endplates, which seem to indicate an inboard trajectory of the airflow?

Impossible to say for sure, but I do know that a huge proportion of overall drag in open-wheel cars is generated by the front tires, so even small changes in this area can have a relatively big impact. The conclusion about reduced drag came from several sources interpretation of the data from the weekend, not my own research. So mostly extrapolation from those two things.

I can guess what's going on though. The volume of air between the footplate and the dive-plane will be pressurized, and in conjunction with those vertical turning-vanes will push following air outboard of the front wheels. This will create a volume of lower pressure above and behind that dive-plane which will exert less force on the tire face, thus reduced drag. The sculpted end-plate will interact with this system as well as affecting the front wing flaps. As for the features underneath the footplate, that's probably interacting with the wheel spat to wall off the tire squirt from flowing inboard and into the floor.

[venkyhere]

How do you think this management of the front wheel wake takes place: either by creating a low-pressure zone that will pull the front wheel wake inboard (or rather outboard), or with the help of the strakes under the endplates, which seem to indicate an inboard trajectory of the airflow?

Impossible to say for sure, but I do know that a huge proportion of overall drag in open-wheel cars is generated by the front tires, so even small changes in this area can have a relatively big impact. The conclusion about reduced drag came from several sources interpretation of the data from the weekend, not my own research. So mostly extrapolation from those two things.

I can guess what's going on though. The volume of air between the footplate and the dive-plane will be pressurized, and in conjunction with those vertical turning-vanes will push following air outboard of the front wheels. This will create a volume of lower pressure above and behind that dive-plane which will exert less force on the tire face, thus reduced drag. The sculpted end-plate will interact with this system as well as affecting the front wing flaps. As for the features underneath the footplate, that's probably interacting with the wheel spat to wall off the tire squirt from flowing inboard and into the floor.

Well explained. My 2 cents :
- whilst the previous regulation had defined the 'front floor lateral edge vanes' (a.k.a bargeboards) to be outwashing (thereby making front wheel wake management easier for the designers) , this current regulation intentionally poses a design challenge by defining the bargeboards to be inwashing, thus spoiling the air flowing to the rear of the car.
- so all efforts (the upwashing slats in the bargeboard, the positioning of the keel/tea-tray, the vortices generated by the front wing, the vortices from the front wheel inner cover etc) are 'tuned' to either create a local high pressure zone just inner to the bargeboard or create a low pressure zone outer to the bargeboard, so that the turbulent front wheel wake trying to 'get in' is pushed away by the blast of air 'going out' through the bargeboard slats.