Spa: updated floor fitted on SF-24 cars, but Ferrari also has backup solution | 2024 Belgian GP
07/26/2024 04:28 AM
Ferrari will start the weekend at the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps using the floor employed last weekend at the Hungaroring circuit. This is the ‘updated’ version of the floor rejected at the Silverstone weekend (on Friday, at the end of the second free practice session for the British Grand Prix) due to bouncing.
The car’s bouncing convinced both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to set it aside in favor of the previous version, first used at the Imola circuit in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Maranello technicians worked overtime to modify the new floor before the Budapest weekend, where the bouncing issue did not occur.
However, not all doubts have been dispelled. The bouncing is strongly linked to the type of circuit, and Spa-Francorchamps’s layout is significantly different from the Hungaroring, with a series of fast corners that are the natural habitat for the bouncing phenomenon.
Scuderia Ferrari will proceed cautiously: the initial practice sessions will serve to determine if the car’s drivability remains acceptable, leaving the final choice to the drivers. If excessive bouncing problems occur, they will revert to the old floor, returning to the version used during the Silverstone weekend.
The weather could complicate matters. Both today in the first two free practice sessions for the Belgian Grand Prix and on Saturday, the chance of rain is indicated at 70%, and if the track remains wet, it will be impossible to carry out the necessary checks, making the choice for drivers and engineers (ahead of Sunday’s race) much more difficult. With the wet conditions, lower speeds are reached, and the problem could remain hidden.
The definitive solution will arrive later in the season, most likely in Singapore or at the Monza circuit for the Italian Grand Prix weekend, where a new floor will debut, which should ensure the aerodynamic load values seen in the latest version without penalizing the SF-24 car’s drivability.
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