Automotive

Ferrari unveils 2011 F150 Formula One car with hydraulically controlled rear wing and KERS

Ferrari unveils 2011 F150 Formula One car with hydraulically controlled rear wing and KERS
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More than two million people witnessed the live presentation of the Ferrari F150 2011 F1 car on friday when the first F1 contender of 2011 was presented live on the internet. The F150 is so named as a tribute to the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Unification of Italy and is the fifty-seventh single-seater built by Ferrari specifically to compete in the Formula 1 World Championship.

The project, which goes by the internal code name of 662, represents the Scuderia’s interpretation of the technical and sporting regulations that apply this year. Various factors influenced the design of the car, especially on the aerodynamic front, to the extent that the F150 can be seen as severing ties with the recent past.

The innovative aspects are in part dictated by changes to the regulations and partly down to original thinking from our designers. As far as the rule changes from 2010 are concerned, the double diffuser and the blown rear wing are banned, as is the use of apertures in the front part of the floor, while the use of an hydraulically controlled adjustable rear wing has been introduced.

After an unofficial agreement between the teams saw its use banned for 2010, KERS is back this year, thanks partly to the increase in the car’s minimum weight and stricter controls on weight distribution figures. The Scuderia has decided to incorporate this technology on the F150 and this has had a significant impact on the design, also taking into account that the dimensions of the fuel cell are very different to those of 2009. Also significant are changes dictated by the introduction of stricter safety requirements in terms of crash-tests, cockpit area protection and wheel-retaining cables for use in accidents.

At first glance, the front part of the F150 monocoque appears to be higher than that of the F10. The openings for the side air intakes are reduced in size, while the layout of the dynamic one above the driver’s head has been modified. The rear suspension features a new design, while that at the front has been modified, following changes to the front part of the chassis. The exhaust system layout is similar to that adopted for the second half of last season and the cooling system has had to take into account the return of KERS and the new air exit ducts. The braking system has been completely redesigned in collaboration with Brembo.

However, the aerodynamic package sported by the car at the presentation is very different to the one which will be seen for the first race in Bahrain: for the early stages of testing, the decision was taken to concentrate on development aspects linked to the mechanical components and on developing an understanding of the Pirelli tyres, while continuing to push on the development of aerodynamic performance in the wind tunnel.

Indeed, the tyres will be another significant new element this season: after a thirteen year relationship with Bridgestone, this year it is Pirelli who take up the baton as sole supplier to Formula 1 for the next three years and thus provide the tyres for the cars from Maranello. Given that the teams have so far only managed two days of testing with the new tyres back in November, clearly the fifteen days of testing prior to the start of the season will be very important when it comes to adapting the handling of the car to the tyres.

As the freeze on engine performance development is still ongoing, there have been no actual modifications to the 056 engine, but that does not mean Ferrari’s engine specialists have been idle. Work has gone into improving reliability, working especially on the pneumatic front, as well as on reducing costs. Furthermore, the reintroduction of KERS has led to a substantial change in the architecture of the front end of the engine, with modifications to the drive shaft system of the KERS itself and the crankshaft and this has led to changes to the cooling and lubrication systems.

The kinetic energy recovery system, designed by Ferrari, has been produced in conjunction with MTS and Magneti Marelli and was fine tuned based on experience acquired in 2009, with the aim of reducing its size and weight, while maintaining, in accordance with the regulations, the maximum useable power and its useage cycle over one lap. This is another area where great attention has been paid to cost reduction, both in terms of its development and the way it is run, so as to make the system equally viable for our customer teams, Sauber and Toro Rosso. The positioning of the KERS within the fuel cell was a further impetus to look at solutions aimed at reducing fuel consumption: in this area, the contribution from a key partner in the form of Shell was vital and will continue to be so throughout the season.

The number of testing days available to the teams remains the same, with 15 prior to the start of the season, therefore preparatory work on the test beds, prior to taking to the track has been ever more important, both on the chassis side and for areas such as the gearbox, engine and KERS.

As is always the case at Ferrari, great attention has been paid to the performance and optimisation of all materials used, in the design stages and when going through quality control, striving to maximise performance levels and reliability, while delivering the highest possible safety standards.

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9 comments
9 comments
fb36
I think there is nothing interesting watching a car race in which all cars are almost exactly the same!
Imagine if there was no restrictions on the cars other than just size and weight. It would allow all kinds of innovation. Imagine some cars in the race use rotary engine, some gas turbine, some hybrid, some electric, even some use new experimental types of engines. It would be much more interesting to watch and the innovations would help the whole auto industry later also.
Griffin
I agree with fb36. If they keep heading this direction, F1 will end up able to \"compete\" with NASCAR.
It will be like watching go-karts at a rental track.
I know that the Indy car people at least are re-considering Turbines to try to break up the monotony.
If,once a year,an intercontinental race was established where it was only a question of passing safety inspection and it was \"winner takes all\", I\'d watch again for sure.
In the mean time, R/C and Landspeed racing have become more interesting and challenging to me.
At least there, we are still ruled by passion- not profit.
Muraculous
F1 has become as boring watching grass grow, primarily as a result of the homogenized field of cars and micro management style over-regulation by the F1 governing body. Typical of all bureaucracies, these guys think that they are more important than the spectators, teams and drivers. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Safety not withstanding, if I don\'t see an allowance for the kind of innovation that allows brain power and nerves of steel to overcome blind luck, then why bother wasting several hours of my otherwise valuable time hoping for, of all things, a pit-stop error???
Facebook User
A hydraulically controlled rear wing?

That\'s nothing new - I designed and perfected an automatic electric solenoid version 20 years ago for sport sedan racing in Australia. I couldn\'t go further because the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) would not allow it. Ditto with a range of other fuel saving and safety applications.

Ferrari - Get real you bunch of pathetic low tech pussies!!! Come to Australia where the real brains of the world live.
Mark Gibbs
What is \"KERS\"? Nowhere in the article do you explain what it is or why it matters!
Facebook User
KERS is defined at the start of the 3rd paragraph from the end.
As for NASCAR, since Toyota was allowed in, all the cars\' bodies have been made identical in shape. The chassis and suspension designs are nearly identical no matter who builds them due to so much of the design being spelled out in nit-picking detail in the NASCAR rulebooks.
The only real difference is in the engines, which haven\'t been based on any engine used in any street legal vehicle for a long time. NASCAR still mandates the use of carburetors! They won\'t get with the 1990\'s and use electronic fuel injection.
It\'s all the same baloney for NASCAR\'s \"truck\" series. When Toyota got into the truck racing, they got their body design done first that year so all the body templates were made for it and all those \"Ford\" \"Dodge\" and \"Chevy\" not-really-trucks are shaped like the Toyota.
The closest thing now to what NASCAR was around the late 1970\'s to early 1980\'s, when they still had to start with a real car, is the World Touring Car Championship or WTCC. This season the Chevy Cruze is way out in front on points, beating Mercedes, BMW and SEAT. (That\'s Say-aht, it\'s a Spanish make of car.) WTCC race vehicles are built starting with a real car, or at least they have to start with a bare production body.
As for Ferrari calling their new F1 car the F150, did they ask Ford for permission to use that? I\'m pretty sure Ford\'s had that trademarked for 63 years or longer.
Crankie Fahrt
@Facebook User - That is NOT a definition of KERS - it was a description!
I\'m sure the average Gizmag reader is busy googling/wiki\'ing KERS as well as \"double air diffuser\" and \"blown wing\".
And then there\'s the \"apetures on front part of floor\". WTH? What does this mean (in context with the article!)
Y\'know, if you want to impart some IMPORTANT information to us readers, it would be nice if you could put it into context that we all could understand. Gizmag is not an Auto-Racing Magazine - I\'d suspect that a vast majority simply ignored this article because it didn\'t impart any \"important\" or \"thought-provoking\" information - because there was no basis for common understanding.
WTH is a \"blown wing\". Sounds \"dirty\" to me...
Tony Samson
I echo a lot of the comments; and all err to a view that is losing touch with FI, and thats entertainment. The by-product of that (when it happens) is advancing technology in car design for the ordinary driver.

I think the F1 scene needs a complete overhaul. Perhaps with the respectful passing of Bernie Ecclestone, we may see that. The fact F1 only has one single tyre supplier; adds a big chunk to the homogination debate, and I cannot help wondering..... how many brown envelopes made the change happen.

No, lets see it all open up, so indeed the best teams; with the best brains and the biggest balls; become the winners.

All this will take, is to apply a limit on the monitary budgets, then they can do what they like with that being the only limit, then watch the imaginations of talented teams break every mould in the book.

To change and bringing back F1 entertainment.

Tony
Facebook User
- third para from the end K.E.R.S. is written out, nothing is defined .