Technical analysis - Canada

F1-technical-analysis-canada-ferrari-brake-duct

FERRARI PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS TO IMPROVE THE BRAKES

Ferrari redesigned its brake ducts by modifying the shape of the air inlets; the Scuderia has removed a fin at the back (see yellow arrows) while adding a vane at the bottom (compare the white arrows).

As we saw in Monaco, the ducts are used to cool down the brake disks, but they also have an influence on tyre temperatures and serve an aerodynamic purpose. Adding a second vane at the bottom of the brake duct, a design that evidently exudes a bit of a Red Bull flavour, aims at generating a high-energy airflow in order to create a barrier against the dirty wake coming off the rotating wheels.

Ferrari also slightly tweaked its front wing: the notch on the ‘r’ cascade, which had been removed in Spain, was added again, while the fin along the endplate has been modified.

One will also notice on the top image that the Maranello-based outfit uses a heat gun combined with a sort of carbon chest in order to warm up the brake disks on the SF16-H.