When small equals big by Maurice Hamilton

How a small change hamstrung the Ferraris

HAVING won two of the rst four races and claimed three pole positions, Ferrari’s sudden drop in form for the Spanish Grand Prix was matched by a rise in rumours.

The loss of pace had followed Ferrari’s unexpected agreement to proposed technical changes for 2019. None of the teams had been happy about suggested modi cations to the front wings and it was con dently expected that a unanimous vote against would stop the proposal in its tracks. Then, without warning, Ferrari and its aligned teams (Sauber and Haas) agreed to the changes.

Rumour in the Barcelona paddock suggested the sport’s governing body, the FIA, had not been happy about Ferrari’s energy-retention system. The word was that Ferrari had been persuaded to stop bending the rules, vote for the 2019 changes ... and nothing more would be said. When Ferrari then struggled on the Circuit de Cataluña, sages tapped the sides of their noses and murmured, “Told you so.”

Ferrari denied such speculation from the outset while, at the same time, wishing to avoid revealing the actual cause of the problem. Only in latter days did eagle-eyed observers begin to piece together reasons for the sudden shortfall in performance, based on the Ferraris being unable to use their tyres as ef ciently as Mercedes and Red Bull.

At rst, it was believed a thinner gauge of tread introduced by Pirelli for the Spanish race had caught out Ferrari. But when Ferrari reverted to the thicker rubber during a post-race test at Barcelona, the problem was made worse. Adding to the confusion, degradation of the rear tyres was even more excessive than it had been during winter testing on the Spanish track with its combination of demanding medium-high-speed corners and a high-grip surface. It was a case of back to the drawing board and a thorough examination of subsequent changes to the car.

Suspicion immediately fell on a revised upper pick-up point on the rear suspension. This had been done to provide improved air ow between the upper and lower suspension arms and thereby increase downforce in this critical area. The original theory had been proved correct when Sebastian Vettel tried the modi cation during practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, his favourable comments prompting the revision to be added to Kimi Räikkönen’s car for the remainder of the weekend.

The shifting by millimetres of a pick-up point doesn’t sound much. But in light of the subsequent struggle with tyre degradation, particularly during the race, it seems the change of suspension angle had induced more heat in the outer shoulder of the tyre, leading to blistering of the rubber. Vettel had been a mere 0,13 seconds slower than Lewis Hamilton’s pole position Mercedes around the 4,65 km lap. But, in the current competitive climate, that meant the second row of the grid and a disadvantage, literally from the start.

There was a time when suspension modi cations such as this would have been examined in forensic detail during hours of running on either Ferrari’s Fiorano test track or any other circuit with a useful performance baseline. But the ban on testing (to reduce costs) ended that line of enquiry. Indeed, had it not been for the rare of cial test immediately after the Spanish Grand Prix, it might have taken painful experience in two or three races before the problem had been highlighted.

The one positive piece of timing for Ferrari was provided by the F1 calendar presenting Monaco as the next race (due to be run after this column was written), the street circuit with its lowgrip surface being technically the exact opposite of Barcelona.

Formula One may have changed massively over the decades but, in some respects, it has not changed at all. Coincidentally, Spain had been the instigator of a problem for Mclaren in 1976 when the rear track on James Hunt’s car was deemed to be 18 mm too wide after the Englishman had won at Jarama.

Mclaren made the appropriate miniscule change to the rear suspension, and Hunt subsequently found the car undriveable. He struggled at Zolder in Belgium and at Monaco; two divergent circuits. Hunt was close to pulling out his blonde hair when he spun six times due to a lack of rear grip in Sweden.

It was eventually discovered that the rear-suspension adjustment had caused an oil cooler to be moved by a tiny amount, but just enough to prevent the rear wing from working ef ciently. He went on to win the championship.

Ferrari hopes it can do the same despite the conspiracy theories.