FERRARI TAKING A LEAF OUT OF THE McLAREN COPYBOOK…
Ferrari was once again really competitive in Spain, even though the Scuderia did not bring as many visual updates as Mercedes.
Maranello engineers have gone for a revised T-wing design, which draws some inspiration from the McLaren solution: a two-plane installation (instead of one previously) with a rounded element to connect them. What’s more, each plane is dented on the SF70H’s T-wing.
The component, which will be outlawed next year, produces aero load without generating too much drag. T-wing designs (with one or two planes, connecting or not) depend on the impact each team seeks to have on the rear wing, especially the vortices generated in the area where the wing tip and endplate meet. That said, the T-Wing/rear wing interaction remains little documented.
… AND DRAWING SOME INSPIRATION FROM MERCEDES
Further evidence of Ferrari’s acknowledgement that rival solutions can be used – team boss Maurizio Arrivabene did not say otherwise in Barcelona – could be seen in the bargeboard cuts (blue arrows) on the SF70H. Still, the Scuderia has not yet fully embraced Mercedes’ aero philosophy of segmentation
The updated bargeboards are also more sculpted, while the deflectors at the base have been slightly re-designed (see yellow arrows) in order to better guide the Y250 vortex.
