GIORGIO PIOLA
FURTHER FLOOR WORK FOR FERRARI
Thanks to its status as a long-time test circuit, Barcelona has for many years been a popular venue for teams to take healthy upgrade packages to, owing to the vast data sets that each squad has on tap. Ferrari had a series of updates to its floor and sidepod package to suit, reworking the undercut around the ‘Coke bottle’ section at the rear in conjunction with modifications to the floor edge and fences. The diffuser also received a rework, with a greater volume thanks to the optimisation of the ‘boat tail’ section underneath.
Ferrari’s pre-event notes stated that this offered “more local load gains”, the floor edge offering more control over the diffuser flow. Senior race engineer Jock Clear stated that there were similarities to the package it took to Imola last month, “targeting the same areas: the floor edge, what wraps under the floor in front of the rear tyre, and then what energises the diffuser expansion at the back. Both the upgrades are looking at similar areas. Subtle differences, but differences nonetheless. So they do complement each other.”
He added that this had been fast-tracked to ensure that the team could use Barcelona to get a better read of its potential, and should offer a similar quantitative gain in performance as its Imola package added.
JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE
RED BULL’S FINE LINE ON COOLING
Red Bull declared a trio of upgrades to combat the Spanish summer heat, as it looke
