F1 2023

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Mercedes: F1 ride control gains more critical than downforce improvements

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Wolff has spoken of a “need to manage everyone’s expectations” regarding the step forward the developments will immediately deliver and has singled out “ride” as the biggest area of focus.

Wolff said of the coming tweaks: “The target is Imola. I just need to manage everyone’s expectations because we are talking so much about the upgrade that when we put it down on the track, we aren’t likely to run circles around Red Bull. It is going to be a good baseline, I think.”

Allison has already noted that the team is working to unlock more downforce while the drawing office has been tasked with penning a revised suspension.
This, Allison reckons, will “help the underlying balance of the car... to make it a more drivable”.

Expanding on the area of weakness, Wolff chose ride as “the main thing” for Mercedes, and that its performance in Baku was not defined by the car being draggy “because nobody overtook anybody”.

Fixing the ride would help Mercedes create the “least s**ttiest” car for the ground-effect rules.
Wolff continued: “For our car, it is more about the ride control than it is about sheer downforce.
“We could put a lot of downforce on the car but the car would be too low and too stiff.
“You can see on the onboards, [Red Bull] is barely moving and the speed on the straights, all the bumps, the car balance is easy. If you look at all the other onboards, it looks like the cars are tricky.
“I think generally the ground effect cars are s**t cars, it is just who has the least s**ttiest, isn’t it?”
Wolff said that were it not for the F1 cost cap, Mercedes would bring an entirely new chassis during the season but has instead focused on the suspension and floor aero given the financial limitations.

He continued: “What we have to really decide carefully is what is it we want to upgrade - we're bringing a new front suspension to Imola and the aero upgrade that comes with it and floor.
He added: “If we get the platform right, it's less about adding 10 points of downforce.
“It's more about giving the drivers a car where, if they turn the wheel into the corner, they actually know the rear doesn't overtake them - that's the problem.”
 
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Naks said:
Rumour has it that Ferrari has managed to poach two senior staff from RBR, one is Enrico Balbo (Head of Aero), the other possibly Pierre Waché (Technical Director)
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Gazetta reports today that Ferrari's attempts to get Balbo & Waché to join them has failed: https://www.gazzetta.it/motori/ferr...-tecnici-red-bull-nel-mirino-di-vasseur.shtml

"...There was an assault on the Piedmontese Enrico Balbo, aerodynamics chief of Red Bull, but the negotiations would have immediately stopped due to the latter's refusal to leave Milton Keynes. In addition, Pierre Waché, the technical director of the world champion team, was contacted. But even in this case the proposal would have been rejected. ..."
 
Naks said:
Another tweak to the Red Flag restart procedure:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1654157383545782272

"#F1's red flag standing restart procedures slightly tweaked for the #MiamiGP. The Safety Car will now leave the pitlane one minute (it was previously 30 seconds) before the race leader, to allow pack better opportunity to warm up tyres."
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I still don't get why a safety car is needed before a standing restart at all. What am I missing here?
 
N0ddy;5049835 said:
i hope-pray it slows them down in the race.. then at least the beloved reds can be at ease to try for that win...
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not until they figure this party trick:

Ferrari experimenting with new non-linear suspension settings amid qualifying and race pace: https://scuderiafans.com/ferrari-ex...nsion-settings-amid-qualifying-and-race-pace/

"... The most popular question about the SF-23 concerns the performance difference between qualifying and race, which in Azerbaijan appeared to be undoubtedly lower. The park ferme rules prohibit mechanics from intervening in the setup of the car after qualifying. Only small aerodynamic adjustments related to the downforce that can be developed on the front are available to balance, if necessary, the load between the two axes. The only parameter that changes, therefore, is the fuel load.

Ferrari has tried different approaches, even changing the supplier of some mechanical parts at the rear. However, this measure did not solve the problem. This is a headache shared with Mercedes, which, through James Allison, made known some modifications to these internal elements that the Brackley team would have implemented during the spring break.

The purpose, in fact, was precisely to vary their behavior at different loads. This path was also taken by the Italian team, which, through this setting choice combined with a targeted study of the setup produced by many hours of work spent in the simulator, managed to decrease the performance delta between the fast lap and the long run.

Before proceeding with the analysis and arriving at certain conclusions, it is worth clarifying some concepts. In general, asserting with certainty that the SF-23 should always run with a “rigid” suspension setup is quite simplistic and does not reflect absolute truth. If this were the only issue limiting the red car in the administration of the compounds and, consequently, in the management of the race pace, such a scenario would also negatively affect the performance in qualifying, which, on the contrary, is very good.

Undoubtedly, the high fuel setup has created quite a few problems for the Maranello team, as the 2023 F1 Ferrari car is very sensitive in this regard, degrading the tires quite a bit. However, by carefully observing the Ferrari steering wheel dashboard through on-board cameras, along with the comments from drivers and engineers, we can say that this phenomenon mainly occurred during acceleration in the central sector of the Baku city circuit.

As a result, the temperature on the rear axle rose, forcing the red car’s drivers to continuously work on “saving” the tires to return to the correct operating window. Therefore, we are talking about thermal degradation due to a lack of grip rather than physical wear determined solely by the suspension setup.

There is a search for the “secret” of Red Bull in managing the tires, mentioning anti-dive and anti-squat suspensions, a topic still not very clear to most people. Contrary to what one might think, in fact, this factor does not bring significant advantages in managing Pirelli tires; on the contrary, exacerbating this concept would mean reducing load transfer, lowering the car’s grip.

What is undoubtedly giving the two RB19s an extra edge is the study of vehicle dynamics, through a truly prepared team that has long been able to make a clear difference in terms of performance. This seems to be the real strength, not just the ability to manage the transition from qualifying to the race.

Returning to Scuderia Ferrari, with 100 kg of fuel on board, the non-linear response of the suspension systems is different, a factor that has the ability to determine different heights outside the optimal range specified in the project. Obviously, in high fuel configuration, the internal components work with greater loads than in the qualifying session.

The problem, therefore, must be sought in the non-linear reactions of individual elements. With a higher imposed load, the suspension response is not what is desired, and therefore the floor position does not remain within the range estimated by the project. To this must be added the endemic lack of vertical thrust, accentuated by the need to further unload the car to limit the speed gap that the SF-23 suffers from compared to the Red Bull, a super-efficient car at the aerodynamic level.

In conclusion, to summarize what has been said, Ferrari is working hard to change the internal response of the suspension elements, whose tasks are of crucial importance in determining the floor’s kinematics. The ultimate goal is to obtain a more stable position of the floor during driving and, consequently, generate the right amount of vertical thrust that can reduce tire degradation, reducing the performance delta between qualifying and the race."
 
Speedster said:
I still don't get why a safety car is needed before a standing restart at all. What am I missing here?
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I think it has to do with the safety going around to confirm that the track is in a suitable condition to go racing again after whatever caused the red flag in the first place has been cleared up.
 
Agent_Smith said:
I think it has to do with the safety going around to confirm that the track is in a suitable condition to go racing again after whatever caused the red flag in the first place has been cleared up.
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I guess that makes sense. Thanks
 
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