At Ferrari, everything is now ready for the next 2024 season. Project 676 is technically completed, for the look we will see in the Bahrain tests, and the important assembly phases have begun of what will be Maranello’s seventieth car and which will lead to the presentation on 13 February. We must expect a much more “sober” and less stage-like launch than that of a year ago, although there will be a shake-down on the Fiorano track, with the first 15 km of shooting day to verify that all the assembly operations are carried out correctly and to give the two drivers a first taste of the new single-seater.
Ferrari 2024: the aerodynamics in the upper part will be very careful
The technical project 676, whose primary guide still lies in Enrico Cardile, did not make the old SF-23 a total shelve. The frame, completely redone and with the lower cones embedded in the bottom, it was the most important step to imprint and fully exploit that aerodynamic concept more in the direction of Red Bull, and to which practically all the teams have macroscopically adapted. As we have already highlighted, the front wing and the undercut on the bellies will be greatly revisited, but they are not the only macro-areas where the next Ferrari will be visually different from the old car.
The upper and central area of the Ferrari SF-23 – Illustration Rosario Giuliana
The upper part of the single-seater has also undergone a “remodernisation” of the aerodynamic concept. It will not simply be a copy-paste of solutions already seen, but Cardile’s technicians have worked to combine a change in philosophy combined with new peculiarities. The part of the bodywork that rotates around the headrest and the roll-bar will be very characteristic and “worked” from an aerodynamic point of view. A series of fins and flow diverters will have the task of combing the air directed towards the rear, between the beam wing and the aileron, which will be supported by a monopylon. Nothing miraculous, and with an aerodynamic effect that will be mostly “local”. However, you will be able to see the “inventiveness” of the aerodynamicists, which, it is very likely, will make the 2024 red car characteristic in this area.
Regarding the bonnet air intake there will be no signs of particular changes. The arrangement and layout of the cooling system have not undergone major revisions, just as the air intake above the rider’s head will remain in the classic triangular shape. This allowed us not to redesign this part from scratch, and pass the crash tests, which are more stringent this year for the roll-up, without major problems.
Red Bull style bonnet: wider air vents that will introduce the well-known ‘tray’
What is brutally defined as the “Red Bull concept” is distinguished from the philosophies carried out in 2022 by Ferrari and Mercedes (and not only) also for the use of a very wide bodywork at the rear, in that area around the exhaust. Ferrari, but also Haas, had maintained the concept of a body close to the mechanics on the SF-23, with an engine hood without large vents around the exhaust. A slimmer shape possible in the upper part of the bonnet and fin to bring more clean air towards the rear wing, with the least possible bulk. The now former Alfa Romeo, on the contrary, with the C44 had instead moved towards the Red Bull concept, both in terms of the dropping sides and the rear bodywork.
Comparison of the rear part of the bonnet of Ferrari and Red Bull – Illustration Rosario Giuliana.
With the 676 project, Ferrari will align itself with the philosophy of the world champions and to which other teams have significantly converted last winter. The bonnet will thus become elongated and widened around the exhaust like a sort of “bazooka”, with the aim not only of disposing of the heat coming from the internal mechanics, but also of accompanying it underneath the rear wing. The air that hits the car will therefore be divided into two macro flows, that is, the one that will flow along the lower part, around the bellies/bottom, and the one in the highest part, around the bonnet towards the rear wing.
On the Rossa 2024 we will then see a new technical compromise of its aerodynamic platform, having to give up a portion of extra efficiency that it was equipped with with the design of the SF-23. Precisely the increase in the rear opening of the bonnet will lead to a rethinking of the cooling slots on the sides of the bodywork for a different distinctive sign, as mentioned, in the most front area, i.e. near the Halo.
Authors: Rosario Giuliana
Co-Authors: Giuliano Duchess & Piergiuseppe Donadoni
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2024-01-22 10:00:20
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