IMPROVE OR ALTER ITS GROUND-EFFECT CONCEPT
Although their ultimate performance levels are very similar, the Ferrari F1-75 and Red Bull RB18 get their speed in different ways. The former has its deep, sculpted sidepods that produce downforce from air passing over the top. The latter’s distinctive feature is its advanced radiator inlets, with the sidepods heavily undercut to channel air down a passage between these and the floor. The two different concepts were a relief to those who feared that F1’s heavily prescriptive rulebook overhaul for 2022 would result in car designs all looking the same.
But the devil is really in the under-chassis venturi tunnels and the aerodynamics effects of the floor, which one leading team’s designer suggested to Autosport means that while the on-top aero pieces catch the eye, they don’t make enough of a difference compared to nailing the design and set-up underneath.
But Ferrari does appear to have a key decision to make with regards to how its 2023 car looks. Not only will it need the floor and suspension arrangements necessary to cope with the rule changes coming for next year (more on that later), but it may wish to consider the other key strength of the RB18: its low-drag profile.
The Red Bull’s slippery nature comes from this lack of drag compared to the higher-downforce-generating Ferrari and is allied to the potent power punch of the Honda engine. Ferrari is on a par in the power stakes and has better corner-exit driveability to gain through traction. But even with the changes it made to its design to boost its top speed compared to its rival, this has proved to be a key weakness.
On top of that, the F1-75 can be said to be more of a peaky machine – it works best at a handful of high-downforce tracks, where it can best show its corner-speed prowess. The RB18 is a contender wherever, which is a reversal from how Red Bull previously found matters against Mercedes.
Given it was aware of the scale of the challenge to catch Red Bull even as it targeted“to win 10 races from now to the end”– said team principal Mattia Binotto at the
French GP – Ferrari acknowledged in Singapore that it had already switched its development attention to building its 2023 challenger.