The Ferrari SF-24 featured a pull-rod rear suspension, with a tie rod as an alternative of a strut. Rumors about an imminent change to a push-rod rear suspension have been very persistent concerning the Maranello crew’s new single-seater for the 2025 Method 1 championship. In line with numerous stories, the 677 undertaking will basically overturn the suspension layouts on each axles with new kinematics. These predictions are fairly peculiar and, in all chance, misread Frederic Vasseur’s current feedback on the Ferrari. Hypothesis instructed a shift to a push-rod rear suspension between 2023 and 2024, which finally didn’t occur.
Italian aerodynamicist Enrico Cardile, on the time, defined merely why it was not adopted. This makes it a superb second to delve deeper into what the previous technical director asserted nearly one 12 months in the past. First, let’s begin with a elementary idea: switching to a rear push-rod suspension is a bonus, however not as important as one may assume. It’s not sufficient to merely change a tie rod with a strut, to magnify the idea. The profit lies in attaining a cleaner airflow towards the rear, as the interior parts are organized greater, permitting for a slimmer decrease part.
Already with the SF-24, Ferrari spent appreciable assets with a view to obtain a compromise between the 2 layouts, with wonderful outcomes. The “technical settlement” was reached by reorganizing the parts beneath the automobile’s bodywork, enabling them to operate in another way in comparison with the previous. Moreover, resizing these parts as an entire made it potential to slim down the decrease rear part. Nevertheless, the tie rod remained, which nonetheless barely disrupted the airflow in that particular space of the automobile.
It ought to be famous that Mercedes additionally switched to a push-rod rear suspension through the 2024 Method 1 racing marketing campaign. For a number of months, this variation prompted numerous adaptation points. It was a suspension adjustment examined on observe that discovered its correct operational level over time. This suspension modification may also function on the W16 single-seater. Returning to Ferrari, evaluations performed on the manufacturing unit through the previous season didn’t reveal a big benefit in abandoning the pull-rod rear suspension to justify the added weight and lowered compliance.
All the things ties into the functioning of the ground, which, to function inside its optimum window, relies upon closely on the rear suspension. Guaranteeing a sure conformity between these two components is crucial and inevitably brings a number of benefits. By “compliance,” we imply the suspension system’s potential to deform beneath load. This deformation is essential in figuring out the accuracy of the aerodynamic map. Additionally it is true that, with the up to date wind tunnel, Ferrari’s growth work has appeared extra constant since the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Sadly, the six races misplaced through the season on account of technical points weighed closely, and because of this, simply as with the entrance suspension, switching to a completely new suspension system could be a big gamble for the Maranello crew within the 2025 Method 1 marketing campaign. If the Ferrari engineers and technicians had determined to put in a push-rod rear suspension, it will imply that the best way the interior components are activated would change, even when the kinematics may stay comparable, with the higher and decrease wishbones probably retaining the identical form.
What may change on this case is the tactic of working the third aspect, which regulates experience peak—a crucial parameter for the present ground-effect vehicles. It’s under no circumstances sure that on February 19 we’d see some tweaks to the structure of the overlapping wishbones. If the purpose is to get well a number of the traction misplaced in 2023, it’s mandatory to attain higher floor contact and keep it for a higher share of time through the acceleration part. To realize such a end result, changes are made to the structure of the overlapping wishbones.
That is achieved by making small modifications to the association of the 4 arms, which may result in important variations in on-track conduct. A superb compromise between compliance and suspension rigidity should at all times be discovered to attain optimum ground dynamics. Moreover, additionally it is potential to make sure that the bars used to attain a superb setup are much less inflexible by default. This side shouldn’t be essentially tied to using a push-rod system. Ferrari may make a number of mechanical changes with out overhauling your entire setup.
That is why we don’t count on a radical change, both by way of the structure or the kinematics. It appears extra doubtless that a number of refinements have been made to regulate each areas associated to the rear suspension. These modifications may not be instantly seen to the bare eye however are primarily based on the technical understanding gathered in 2024, a transfer to optimize the efficiency of the brand new ground. This might be what Frederic Vasseur meant when he acknowledged that only one% of the Ferrari SF-24’s parts would stay unchanged in 2025.
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