Ferrari has arrived in Singapore with a revised front wing arrangement that it hopes will help unlock extra performance from the SF-24 car.
The Italian outfit has been much more competitive over the last few races thanks to the introduction of a new floor at the Italian Grand Prix, and it is hoped the minor tweak this weekend will give it more set-up options to optimise car balance.
While introducing an aero upgrade like a new front wing is not usual for street venues, Ferrari’s senior performance engineer Jock Clear has explained why his squad has taken the plunge.
“Singapore is not the obvious circuit where you would bring an aero upgrade,” he said.
“It’s a very draggy, high-downforce circuit, so [the wing] is not specific for this circuit, but basically, it’s just moving the energy a little further inboard.
“If you look at it closely, you’ll see that the inboard is a bit more aggressive and the outboard a bit less aggressive, so we’ve moved that dynamic a little bit. This allows us to crank on a bit more [downforce].
“Here you’re probably going to want to have maximum rear downforce and you’re going to want to get a balance.
“Balance is everything around here and we’ve been a little bit backed into a corner at some of the high-downforce circuits before, because we’re running out of front power.
“It’s just a little more powerful at the top end, slightly more efficient, but it really is that it’s a bit more powerful. That gives us a bit more scope.”
The new front wing is an evolution of its predecessor, with many of the design features retained, albeit more deliberate in their approach.
In terms of the actual design changes to the wing, aside from the obvious flap geometry changes, the design of the spoon-shaped transition from the centre of the mainplane has been altered. This will, in turn, provide a different aerodynamic reaction from the nose assembly.
Meanwhile, the outboard section of the flaps has been redesigned where they meet with the endplate. This is in order to enhance the outwash effect being generated and alter the wake generated by the wheel and tyre assembly behind.
The new flap tips are much more roundly curved (left image, below) and the supporting metal work that had previously been employed has been cast aside, which will alter their dynamic behaviour as a consequence.
Ferrari will also undoubtedly benefit from a wing designed with a greater ability to exploit aero elasticity, given the FIA’s clearance of solutions fielded by its rivals in recent races.
The ability to relax the flaps under load, for example, will allow the team to set up the car with more downforce, knowing it won’t be penalised by the drag that would ordinarily occur. It’s a win-win that should not only contribute to improving the car's balance, but also help with tyre degradation over a stint too.
These alterations should help to tie in with the aforementioned floor updates introduced at Monza. This will help further widen its operating window, resulting in a more benign aerodynamic platform and more predictable handling characteristics.
The new floor has undergone an extensive reimagining of all the surfaces involved, with the floor fences reconfigured, the underfloor tunnel expansion revised, the floor edge and edge wing reprofiled and a new boat tail section in the transition to the diffuser.
