Tech analysis: Ferrari resurrects old concepts

Long-term development bias aside since the management structure has changed the team does seem to be making decisions on a race-by-race basis in ways we haven't seen it do for a number of years.

We're used to seeing Ferrari use circuit-specific front and rear wings, with little changing around the rest of the car to facilitate a centre of pressure shift, but in Spa and Monza the team revised this thinking, blanking off the blown axle and removing the chassis winglets that were first used at Silverstone.

For Singapore the team returned to a known high-downforce configuration but briefly tested a new front wing that it hoped would work as part of a new package of pieces due for Malaysia.

Its main design feature is something we've seen used by Mercedes since Japan last season, with serrations added to the front wings penultimate flap in order to improve downforce and balance, without dramatically increasing the drag penalty.

Another raft of parts arrived at the Sepang circuit for the drivers to assess during practice, with focus placed on improving the way airflow moves under the nose and chassis, hopefully improving performance downstream of that too.

Whilst none of these parts were actually raced, it's important we identify what the Scuderia is focused on as it may feature again in the coming races.

A new set of turning vanes could be found hung from the underside of the SF16-H, featuring two slots rather than one, whilst the entire surface of them was also very different.

The new turning vanes were much more vertical than their predecessors, whilst the large curvature that ordinarily embraces the airflow is discarded and a flatter footplate is introduced.

Ferrari SF16-H bat-wing

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

As part of this update and intrinsically linked to the change in turning vanes an old bedfellow emerged, as the SF16-H was equipped with an under chassis 'bat-wing'.

This appendage was first brought to prominence by Mercedes in 2014, and used by the championship leaders since, helping to redirect airflow moving under the cars nose and chassis to improve the shape and direction of the Y250 vortex which in-turn improves flow downstream.

Ferrari employed a 'bat-wing' in the latter phases of 2015, with the appendage used on the SF15-T from the US GP onwards but their change to a 'thumb' style nose and revised turning vanes in 2016 has excluded its use thus far.

The team did introduce a set of chassis vanes at Silverstone this year, which have seen sporadic use depending on circuit characteristics since and actually featured in their race set-up in Malaysia too.

Ferrari SF16H fins, British GP

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

These vanes perform a similar role to the bat-wing but as they're positioned a little further back they will have a different influence on the other airflow structures they're interacting with.

The tandem introduction of new turning vanes and the bat-wing hint at the fact that the team are looking to shift and improve the way the air moves under the floor and around the front face of the sidepod.

The bat-wing itself is named as such because of its obvious visual similarity to the winged mammal with two winged elements mounted astride the ride height sensor. When compared with last years design this bat-wing is a little more aggressive with a steeper angle of attack and sharper and longer tips.

It's interesting that Ferrari has returned to this design, given other teams with the 'thumb' style nose, such as Red Bull and McLaren have opted for larger winglets mounted astride the splitter to fulfill this role instead.

Ferrari SF16-H splitter

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Talking of the splitter, Ferrari also trialled a new version of that too, which featured a revision to the vertical fences and shape of the aperture in the front corner (arrowed).

The fence was extended, whilst the aperture was opened up, both of which are done to take advantage of the reshaped airflow structures that the new turning vanes and bat-wing were influencing.

This package of parts, along with several others still in the pipeline are undoubtedly something that was green-lit by Sergio Marchionne as part of their restructuring process, allowing the new players within the structure to utilise some of those untapped ideas that had been hidden in drawers under their desk.

Equal to an arm around the shoulder, it should instill camaraderie amongst the engineers and proves that Ferrari are serious about taking the fight to Red Bull who've surpassed them in the standings.

At the end of the day these developments have cost money, perhaps money that hadn't even been ring-fenced for this years development and so the rewards need to reverberate both on track and back at the factory.