FORUMula1.com

[racechick]

Well without the dramas I think Alonso would have won today. Though there is the tyre issue that may have reared its ugly head. Tyres caused a few issues his weekend.

[spankyham]

Here's a good article on what actually went wrong on Nando's DRS actuator.

Bahrain GP tech briefing: how DRS works and how it can go wrong

Ferrari suffered an unusual problem with Fernando Alonso's car in the Bahrain Grand Prix, when the rear wing flap became stuck open when the Drag Reduction System (DRS) was used early in the race.

This problem could not be fixed and Alonso was without DRS until the finish.



DRS is usually reliable. The only notable failure of it before was the Mercedes system on Michael Schumacher's car being stuck open and forcing his retirement in Canada last year.

DRS was introduced to the sport in 2011 as an overtaking aid and concession for the F-duct which had been banned. Under certain conditions the driver is allowed to lift the rear flap open, to create a 50mm gap between the flap and the wing's main plane. This boosts top speed, allowing for easier overtaking on the nominated straights.

Teams use the car's hydraulic system to open the flap. This requires pipework leading up from the gearbox to an actuator on the wing.

Over the years the position of the actuator and how it opens the flap have changed.

Initially most teams had the actuator in the rear wing support pylon and it simply pushed upwards to open the flap. This was soon discarded and the actuator mounted inside a pod mounted above the wing. This kept the negative aerodynamic effect of the hydraulic actuator well clear of the wing.

Inside this pod the actuator will either pull the wing open directly or with a small rocker. This will be arranged to ensure the wing opens at no more than the 50mm gap stipulated in the rules.

When the hydraulic pressure is applied to the actuator the piston inside moves forwards in a few milliseconds, pulling open the wing in the process.

When the hydraulic pressure is released, the air pressure on the flap allows the wing to close without any hydraulic assistance.

In Alonso's case the actuator pulls the wing open with a simple link, much like the Lotus solution pictured above. However the mechanism allowed the flap to open too far, the airflow caught under the flap and flipped it over-centre to prevent the flap closing as it would usually do.

It was clear at the first stop that the flap easily pushed back into position, but on its first use on the out-lap the same problem occurred.

Unable to change the mechanism, Alonso was left without the system for the remainder of the race.

It appears that the mechanism failed to prevent the wing opening too far.

This 'end stop' might either be in the linkage or the hydraulic actuator itself.

Although this was a unique failure, Ferrari will need to review this problem ahead of the next race in Spain.

[spankyham]

Well without the dramas I think Alonso would have won today. Though there is the tyre issue that may have reared its ugly head. Tyres caused a few issues his weekend.

When Nando came out after they fixed it the first time I said they will test it on the first lap of his next tire change window - so that if it failed again they could pit and fix it during a tire change. If they had, that would have saved him 20 odd seconds and put him on the podium.

[spankyham]

Interesting video showing the floor of the F138 flexing quiet a bit. I saw this over on a technical forum and they were discussing if it was the natural frequency (NF) of the floor being hit that caused such significant movement and again whether it was a good thing or not. I doubt it is the NF thing as you can see the front wing also moving and the it's doubtful both items will have the same NF.



What I thought as I looked at it wasn't so much as to how it was happening, but that it was happening. Now, if it was not the NF thing then what it does show is that the floor road surface connection is pretty strong on the Ferrari. Maybe this is the "Rory wonder floor" they talked about from last year. Perhaps its only this year they are able to get it working - now they have sorted out their wind tunnel and correlation issues out.

Although the DRS problem Nando had was a real downer for our team in Bahrain, consider how long Nando drove the F138 with the wing stuck open and even on that long curve the Force India of Di Resta (which was pretty fast yesterday) made no ground on Nando. The core DF of the F138 must be fairly handy as well as Nando's driving skill

[racechick]

Thanks Spanky, a good read. I'd tipped Alonso to win without that mishap. He was fairly upbeat after the race though. I think he knows he has an intrinsically good car underneath him.

[LewEngBridewell]

Tyres caused a few issues his weekend.

Still a really good race though, you'll surely agree?

[LRW]

Although the DRS problem Nando had was a real downer for our team in Bahrain, consider how long Nando drove the F138 with the wing stuck open and even on that long curve the Force India of Di Resta (which was pretty fast yesterday) made no ground on Nando. The core DF of the F138 must be fairly handy as well as Nando's driving skill

This was a point I remember wanting to bring up and totally forgot! Well remembered Spanky.

When his wing first stuck open, I held my breath waiting for him to spin off. And nothing. He just sailed round that bend. I cant imagine he would of known it stuck open first time, so I think would of been driving at the full force that curve allows. And he just stuck to the ground.

I might have to get on the Xbox tonight, and see if it will let me replicate it - or if I will spin off and die..... (Im expecting the latter)

[LewEngBridewell]

When his wing first stuck open, I held my breath waiting for him to spin off. And nothing. He just sailed round that bend.

Me too!

He handled the situation well.

[racechick]

Well without the dramas I think Alonso would have won today. Though there is the tyre issue that may have reared its ugly head. Tyres caused a few issues his weekend.

When Nando came out after they fixed it the first time I said they will test it on the first lap of his next tire change window - so that if it failed again they could pit and fix it during a tire change. If they had, that would have saved him 20 odd seconds and put him on the podium.

Vey logical thought! I wonder why they didn't think of it? They need you on the strategy team!! But then Lewis would have been down a place.....so

[spankyham]

Well without the dramas I think Alonso would have won today. Though there is the tyre issue that may have reared its ugly head. Tyres caused a few issues his weekend.

When Nando came out after they fixed it the first time I said they will test it on the first lap of his next tire change window - so that if it failed again they could pit and fix it during a tire change. If they had, that would have saved him 20 odd seconds and put him on the podium.

Vey logical thought! I wonder why they didn't think of it? They need you on the strategy team!! But then Lewis would have been down a place.....so

If I was calling the shots they might well have had Lewis, dressed in red holding up the winners trophy

[What's Burning?]

Stop fantasizing! There's not that many really good drivers to go around, why should the SF have them all?

[LewEngBridewell]

Analysis of Ferrari's start to the season, which has been littered with errors, by Andrew Benson, BBC:

Vettel's closest rival has been Alonso of Ferrari, but his campaign has so far been hamstrung by errors that could prove very costly by the end of the season.
Alonso admits tapping the back of Vettel's car in the maelstrom of a wet start in Malaysia was "my mistake" but can perhaps be forgiven, especially as the Red Bull was briefly out of shape and going slower than might have been expected.
The Spaniard was unlucky the incident broke his front wing, but then came the catastrophic decision not to pit at the end of the first lap, which resulted in him crashing out at the start of lap two when the wing collapsed.
Ferrari took the blame for the call - as they should. For even if Alonso had communicated his desire to stay out - as some believe he did - he could not see the wing and the team should have been stronger.
Then, in Bahrain, Alonso's DRS overtaking aid stuck open on the seventh lap while chasing Vettel and Ferrari unwisely believed that, having been shoved back into place, it would operate as normal. It stuck open again the first time he used it and he had to return to the pits.
The errors cost Alonso at least a fifth place in Malaysia and a podium in Bahrain. And at both races, with no problems at all, Alonso might have competed for a win.
Add in his crushing win in China and strong second place in Australia, along with team-mate Felipe Massa's continued resurgence, and it is clear Ferrari have the car they need to compete for the title on a more equal footing than during Alonso's stunning 2012 season.
But they will have to heed team boss Stefano Domenicali's demand to be "perfect" from now on if they are not to squander it.

[What's Burning?]

I really hope Alonso's season doesn't wind up mirroring Lewis' 2012 efforts.

[Hammer278]

I really hope Alonso's season doesn't wind up mirroring Lewis' 2012 efforts.

If Ferrari made half the mistakes which McLaren made last season, they'd be roasted by the Italian tifosis way before they reach the end of the season.

[vaptin]

The article has a fair point, when it comes to being right at the front and under pressure, Ferrari seem to make mistakes, when it comes to not being right at the front, but needing to recover ground through strategy or the like, Ferrari seem to do very well.

However, normally the team only gets fast towards the end of the season (I am talking about this "incarnation" of the team), where they are under a lot of pressure to make use of their finally genuinely pace competitive car to get points for the championship.

This time, they have started with a fast car, and have time to relax and bed in to keep a cool head with the strategy, they obviously already have the strategy capability in place (i.e. the potential) as they proved it a lot last season. I think Pat-Fry is making a big difference here, although I think he works in more of a technical than sporting role in the team?

Having two quick drivers now, should help, takes the pressure from being all on one side of the garage.