Comments on: Ferrari’s R&D Department Have Developed Something Weird

By: Barcelona Test Day Two: Honda & Renault Try New Parts » BlogF1

Barcelona Test Day Two: Honda & Renault Try New Parts » BlogF1 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:51:15 +0000

[...] new STR3, a derivative of the RB4 and making its public debut at Circuit de Catalunya. The car has already run at a private test with Brendon Hartley at the wheel. The test was held at Vairano in early April with only Ferrari [...]

By: John Beamer

John Beamer — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:05:16 +0000

This idea has actually been tried before. Anyone remember the Walrus nose? Here is what Paddy Head said:

“Looking at the car for this year, it’s got a very unusual nose. It came out of a development that started two years ago where we were looking to bleed air up from the upper surface of the wing, up through the nose and over the top of the car. We started with a fairly conventional-looking nose with a big hole in the middle, then as that developed we ended up taking the front bit away, resulting in what we’ve got now.”

By: Gregor

Gregor — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:34:21 +0000

If I remember correctly, Autosport or F1 Racing (can’t remember which) ran a story a few years back about the nostril on the end of the nose cone. I think McLaren were the first to introduce it and it was to cool the drivers feet. A quote from the Tech Director at the time said that the aerodynamic impact was tiny and it helped the drivers.

Soon it appeared on every car. I suspect it’s probably changed purpose in the last few years though and there’s another reason for it.

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:52:04 +0000

Wow, great find John. If it is like the first image shown in the forum you linked to then I can see why it might take some rigourous crash tests before being approved. I don't know why, but the image I had in my head was the opposite; like the bonnet (hood) of a Ford Mustang. I hadn't thought that the air could be coming in from underneath.

By: John Beamer

John Beamer — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:24:49 +0000

Having a good hunt around this may be the idea

http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4589&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

By: John Beamer

John Beamer — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 04:56:59 +0000

Without seeing it it is difficult to say. The most likely explanation is some aero tweak as the existing slots in the nose aid colling. If any more cooling is needed surely the nose hole would be modified.

One possible aero tweak is as a vortex generator to channel high speed, low pressure air more efficiently around the driver and to the lower part of the rear wing. However, as I said, you’d need to see it really to have any clue.

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 23:31:54 +0000

@Ali: I don’t think this is an April Fools, well noticed though! The original talk of the radical nose started in mid-March as far as I can tell. The delaying of it happened either yesterday (1st) or early today (2nd).

@Bazanaius: Thanks for sharing. I just found Geoff Willis’s thoughts on this from March which go along with what you’re saying about the front wing.

Its function is probably to use the central part of the front wing in a better way. Geoff Willis.

By: Bazanaius

Bazanaius — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:53:34 +0000

Also been discussing this on another website. It was originally suggested by someone on there actually, not sure if ferrari heard of it this way or not but anyway..
apparently it can help with removing stagnated air on the trailing edge of the front wing. The hole is not just in the top of the structure, but a tunnel all the way through. Whilst this itself is generally thought to not make much use of the airflow, it can help alleviate the air ‘trapped’ between the top of the front wing and the underside of the body. Removing this air increases the efficiency of the wing.

By: Alianora La Canta

Alianora La Canta — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:52:59 +0000

Did this story first appear yesterday? This could be an April Fool’s joke…

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:18:00 +0000

This is a strange one, me thinks. I can’t find any photos of the Vairano test last week. If anyone has an image of this “aerodynamic tweak” I’d love to see it.

All the cars have holes at the very front, the tip of the nose so-to-speak, but this modification is apparently much further up. It almost seems like it’d be a hindrance rather than a help. Maybe they are just creating some hot air to distract everyone else.

By: Alianora La Canta

Alianora La Canta — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:35:57 +0000

There is another possible reason for the delay. It may be that the hole is large enough to require modification of the nose crash structures, in which case Ferrari may have just realised that they need to re-test the front of the car before they can race the component.

By: Clive

Clive — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:49:25 +0000

I mentioned this strange modification in the forum I frequent and the answer was that the nostril (which all the cars seem to have) is for cooling some electronic equipment in the nose. The new hole may have something to do with this but that doesn’t fit with what Ferrari have been saying about it. The story is that it’s an aerodynamic tweak.

At this point I go “Huh?” How that can be an aero tweak is beyond me. But then they go on to say that they’re not introducing it in Bahrain because they are concerned primarily with reliability at the moment. I fail to see how a hole in the nose can affect reliability.

My own theory is that Ferrari are hoping that all the other teams are taking notes and will spend the next few weeks cutting holes in the noses of their cars for testing in the wind tunnels. It’s called sending the others off on a wild goose chase while making sure that your real tweaks don’t get noticed until it’s too late.