FORUMula1.com

[sagi58]

There are all sorts of great videos to be found on the unveiling of the SF15-T:

- the revelation;
- interviews;
- photos;
- stickering timelapse;
- specifications.

Great stuff!! Take a look:

http://2015f1car.ferrari.com/desktop/en/#revelation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sagi58]

Some great shots:

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[sagi58]

more...

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[sagi58]

even more...

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[sagi58]

And, here are the specifications:

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[sagi58]

On first "glance", this is what Dominic Harlow has to say about the

Ferrari launches 2015 F1 car seeking to close the “unacceptably large gap” to Mercedes

...JA on F1 technical adviser Dominic Harlow’s assessment of the new Ferrari...

Similar to the Mclaren MP4-30 the car has an extened ‘Platypus’ type nose with its front wing pillars set well back. Unlike the exaggerated nose camera mounts on the Mercedes, which are free from profile or incidence restriction, the Ferrari’s are subtler and placed ahead of the front top wishbone.

The car continues with the large front brake duct inlets and blown front axles that were used during 2014 and originally developed by Williams in 2013.

There is also a front lower wishbone with a similar enlarged intersection between the forward and rearward legs, similar to that used by Mercedes with the W05 and permitting a much broader 3.5:1 profile. Ferrari have continued to use a pullrod layout at the front which to date is a unique feature.

The roll hoop area is clean with all inlet air collected inside the front view shape of the roll structure.

At the rear there is further evolution of the rear brake duct cascade and the rear top wishbone to upright mounting is enlarged. The diffuser is pretty well hidden, so perhaps contains some novel features or details.

Ferrari powered cars were noted to struggle more against Mercedes in Race trim in 2014, when it was necessary to sustain energy recovery from the MGU-H to enable a full 4Mj of energy to be deployed whenever possible. In Qualifying the battery could sustain this for a single lap but not in the Race. Under the engine cover it seems there could be solutions aimed at addressing this shortfall...

p.s. Dominic Harlow

[sagi58]

Very cool...

[LiamCatterson]

The car looks B-E-A-Utiful as usual


Btw, 7 replies but 4 views? What

[sagi58]

...Btw, 7 replies but 4 views? What

It's taken me 7 replies to this thread to post all those luscious pictures!!

[sagi58]

Just the talking points!! I've edited out a lot of the more detailed analysis, in the interest of space!!

Tech Analysis: Ferrari SF15-T

...The SF15-T could well be the early stages of recovery and it is clear that Ferrari have not tried to be revolutionary... However there are some key aspects of the new car that look to elevate Ferrari back to winning ways.

At the front the nose ...form[s] a smooth profile for air to pass over and creating an area of interaction with the front wing main plane below...

The front wing is an evolution of last year, its endplates being the only major change...

Ferrari have retained their front suspension layout for 2015, with the pullrod...

The front brake ducts have also been carried over from last year...

Further back and it is unclear as to how Ferrari have approached its cooling requirements this year or if they have made any substantial improvements to its power unit. Whilst the chassis of the SF15-T carries over many characteristics of its predecessor, you would have thought that – like all of the other teams this year – more would be done to slimline the rear bodywork.

The sidepods remain fairly bulky and rounded ... At the rear the cooling solution from 2014 appears to have been brought forward, with a central outlet surrounding the exhaust accompanied by a pair of vents either side of the rear crash structure.

An additional inlet has been made beneath the airbox to feed the electronics with more air...

Although the diffuser was covered up for the pictures, the launch video provided more clues as to which direction this area is going in this year. The floor sweeps outwards dramatically to its very extremities... This increases the expansion rate of air at the rear of the car which increases rear downforce.

The rear wing is mounted via a swan-neck central pylon that reaches down to the top of the engine cover. A ‘monkey seat’ winglet has been installed off the pylon rather than attaching to the rear crash structure below...

Finally, the rear wing’s endplates appear to be a carryover of last season’s late developments with additional horizontal slots at their base. These are intriguing and we have yet to see these on any other car. Whilst the vertical slots that accompany them allow airflow to expand outwards more readily, the horizontal openings appear to encourage air to go upwards from the inside of the endplate to the outside. This could be a way to break up turbulent flow aft of the rear suspension...

[sagi58]

Ferrari - too fast to be real?



It was Ferrari, not Mercedes, who produced the fastest laps of the test - with Sebastian Vettel and Raikkonen quickest on three of the four days.

A note of caution, though. Raikkonen was also fastest on the first day in Jerez last year - before the team's worst season for more than two decades.

And up and down the pit lane there was scepticism. As one leading engineer pointed out: "I don't know what Ferrari are up to - they're not going to be two seconds faster than Mercedes."

This was the mystery of Ferrari's performance. The car appeared genuinely fast - but it was surely too fast to be real. The team's average lap time over the whole test was 1.5 seconds quicker than anyone else's.

F1 history - and basic engineering logic - is clear. For one thing, a team as dominant as Mercedes were last year is never going to lose that edge this quickly; for another, a team in as much trouble as Ferrari were in 2014 is not going to dominate the year after.

A clue to what might be going on was in Ferrari's run plan - where Mercedes were generally doing 30- or 40-odd laps at a time, rare was the run on which Ferrari did more than 10.

The longer the run, the more fuel is needed to complete it (although a team can of course start a short run on a lot of fuel). And the more fuel in the car, the slower it goes.

But while it would be a surprise to see the two Ferraris on the front row come Melbourne in six weeks' time, there are signs the team has made a genuine step forward.

One of them came from Raikkonen. Not exactly known for his effusiveness, and notoriously sensitive to the way a car behaves, the Finn was much more positive about the new car than he needed to be at its first test.

"This year is a completely different story to last year," said Raikkonen, who rarely felt comfortable in the 2014 Ferrari, and was annihilated by team-mate Fernando Alonso as a result.

"I had a good feeling straightaway when I went out. We've improved in all areas. It's definitely a positive start."

The other indicator is the progress the team have made on the engine - their biggest weakness last year, when it lacked overall power, driveability and performance from its hybrid system.

Insiders say Ferrari have found at least 50bhp already since the end of last year and could have another 30bhp or so to add before the first race.

This information was lent extra credence by Sauber driver Felipe Nasr. Now using a Ferrari engine, the Brazilian has experience of the 2014 Mercedes from a year as Williams reserve driver. He said the two engines "feel similar".

Ferrari were reckoned to be about 40bhp down on Mercedes on peak power last year, and even if Mercedes add the 50-60bhp they were said to have for this season, this sort of improvement could put Ferrari, as one rival said, "right up with Mercedes" on engine performance.

With an apparently better car, too, could Alonso's patience with Maranello have run out at just the wrong time?

[sagi58]

Formula 1 rivals suspect Ferrari's testing form shows real progress



Ferrari's strong form in the first pre-season Formula 1 test has left rivals wary that it might have made a much bigger leap than expected over the winter.

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were fastest on three of the four days of the first pre-season test at Jerez last week.

Their consistent speed throughout the test has prompted speculation over whether Ferrari's speed is a sign of a genuine breakthrough or can be put down to simple low-fuel glory runs...

...Reflecting on the Jerez times in the official Australian Grand Prix podcast, Ricciardo said: "We are aware of the laps Mercedes did and the laptime Ferrari put down, which looked good.

"We expect nothing less from Mercedes to be honest, but Ferrari looked like they came out pretty strong...

..."They look good but are they going to be the same once we start racing in race conditions?

"I think Barcelona will get us a step closer to that...

[sagi58]

Next tests will reveal true Ferrari pace - Marchionne

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne is looking to the next two tests at Barcelona to get a true reading of where his team stands this year.

Ferrari set the pace on three of the first four days of testing in Jerez, but defending champions Mercedes made clear it was not chasing lap times while Red Bull and McLaren struggled with reliability issues. Marchionne said the opening test showed promise, but the new Ferrari has yet to prove itself on longer runs.

"I am encouraged by the performance of the new car, though it is one thing to do a quick lap, another to do an entire race," Marchionne was quoted by the BBC. "I have so much confidence in the work of the boys. I am proud of their work.

"Now we'll see when the world championship starts in Australia. I do not expect miracles, but it is important to see progress. At the Barcelona test, I expect the ultimate proof of what we have done so far."

The second pre-season test gets underway in Barcelona on February 19 and is followed by another four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya starting on February 26.

[sagi58]

Sounds like Barcelona was a busy day!! Here are the Ferrari "highlights"!!

Barcelona test: Lotus set pace as Ferrari impress again and McLaren's woes continue

MP4-30 only runs for 21 laps; Lewis Hamilton taken ill with a fever; Susie Wolff crashes out after a collision with Felipe Nasr

Ferrari maintained their impressive early-season form on the first day of the Barcelona test as McLaren-Honda's woes continued and Lewis Hamilton was forced to stop running due to illness.

Although Lotus' Pastor Maldonado topped the timesheets after a late burst in the E23, it's the pace of Ferrari's SF15-T which remains the dominant talking point in the paddock.

While Maldonado's benchmark was set on soft tyres, Kimi Raikkonen's 1:25.167 effort when running on the medium compound was by far and away the lap of the day.

Not only was the lap faster than Hamilton’s pole position effort at the 2014 Spanish GP but it also represented a two-second improvement on Ferrari’s pace at the Circuit de Catalunya last May...

...Barcelona Day One Timesheet

1. Maldonado, Lotus, 1:25.011, 69 laps
2. Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:25.167, 74 laps
3. Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:25.547, 59 laps
4. Perez, Force India, 1:26.636, 34 laps
5. Nasr, Sauber, 1:27.307, 79 laps
6. Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:27.900, 94 laps
7. Button, McLaren, 1:28.182, 21 laps
8. Wehrlein, Force India, 1:28.329, 32 laps
9. Wehrlein, Mercedes, 1:28.489, 48 laps
10. Wolff, Williams, 1:28.906, 86 laps
11. Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:30.429, 11 laps.

[sagi58]

Design culture is James Allison's main influence on Ferrari

Ferrari Formula 1 technical director James Allison says his main influence so far has been to end a culture of short-term thinking and ease the pressure on the design team.

Allison joined Ferrari from Lotus in mid-2013. Although Ferrari endured its worst season in two decades in 2014, it has begun this year as Mercedes' closest challenger and defeated the world champion team to win the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Asked about his role in Ferrari's turnaround, Allison said he had tried to change the mindset around Ferrari's technical department.

"I haven't designed a single piece on this car, there's a lot of very talented people who do that," Allison said.

"If I've had any feat, it's trying to say which bits are worth putting lots of effort into.

"[I'm here] to make sure pressure has been taken off people to deliver things for next week but to work with a slightly long timescale in mind - which frees up your hand to do a good job.

"It's hard to do anything in a two to three month timescale. You need to build a programme over months and years rather than weeks."

Although the end of Ferrari's victory drought followed a winter of restructuring and management changes, Allison said the true effect of that reshuffle would not be evident for some time.

"Any changes like that are not done lightly and not easy to do," he said.

"But they are done looking to the long term to make sure we have a team of people in place that we know can build for the future and just make us stronger month by month.

"We will increasingly benefit from those changes in the months and years ahead rather than it making a difference overnight."

Ferrari's winter engine improvement has been credited as a major factor in its turnaround.

Allison said that programme did not begin in earnest until the middle of 2014, and that work on this year's aerodynamic concept had actually come first.

"The aero programme was around about early January 2014, the engine programme much later," he said.

"Work was going on, but the real momentum of the engine programme was late May [2014]."