‘frozen’, but the seven-ratio gearbox now featured ‘seamless’
shifting, an innovation that had becomede rigueursince being
pioneered by McLaren-Mercedes and BAR-Honda in 2005.
Between the launch and the season opener, Ferrarifi tted
very different front and rear wings, the front featuring a higher
and more twisted chord profile for the second horizontal
elementwhere it met the nose. But some of the cleverest and
most sophisticated details of the F2007 were invisible to the
naked eye, and were initially only the subject of conjecture.
Or so it seemed...
After Räikkönen won the season-opening Australian Grand
Prix for Ferrari, McLarenfi led a detailed technical queryto
the FIA – the usual mechanism by which a team tries to ‘out’
a rival it suspects of circumventing the rules – regarding the
theoretical legality of afl exible front splitter.
Some fl exibility in this area of bodywork was permissible,
on the grounds that otherwise it would be more vulnerable
to damage when thecar rode kerbs. Like many other
body surfaces, the splitter was tested forfl exibility during
scrutineering by applying a force of 500 Newtons;
any deflection outside a tolerance of 15mm (5mm downwards,
10mm upwards) would failthe test. The F2007’s splitter
was hinged at the rear, where it was attached to the tub,
and fi xed at the front tothe underside of the car’s nose bya
stay containing a pair of springs, one in tension and one in“BRAWN HAD PREPARED FOR HIS DEPARTURE EXQUISITELY, THOUGH,
LEAVING EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL SCHOOLED IN HIS METHODOLOGIES.”
speed; and they could ride kerbs more aggressively, enabling
drivers to take liberties through chicanes.Sin ce the FIA had
been using ride height as a tool tolimit performance gains for
over a decade, it acted immediately to put the brakes onsuch
systems, announcing a new scrutineering procedurefrom
round two, the Malaysian Grand Prix, onwards.compression, which were tuneable depending on the nature of
the circuit andthe am ount of ballastcarried in the splitter.
Flexible splitters unlocked a virtuous circle of performance
benefits: cars could run lower at high speed, enabling their
aerodynamic furniture towor k more optimally; there was
the potential to stall the diffuser for a gain in straightlineGP RACING JULY 2020 77‘frozen’, but the seven-ratio gearbox now featured ‘seamless
shifting, an innovation that had becomede rigueursince being
pioneered by McLaren-Mercedes and BAR-Honda in 2005.
Between the launch and the season opener, Ferrarifi tted
very different front and rear wings, the front featuring a higher
and more twisted chord profile for the second horizontal
elementwhere it met the nose. But some of the cleverest and
most sophisticated details of the F2007 were invisible to the
naked eye, and were initially only the subject of conjecture.
Or so it seemed...
After Räikkönen won the season-opening Australian Grand
Prix for Ferrari, McLarenfi led a detailed technical queryto
the FIA – the usual mechanism by which a team tries to ‘out’
a rival it suspects of circumventing the rules – regarding the
theoretical legality of afl exible front splitter.
Some fl exibility in this area of bodywork was permissible,
on the grounds that otherwise it would be more vulnerable
to damage when thecar rode kerbs. Like many other
body surfaces, the splitter was tested forfl exibility during
scrutineering by applying a force of 500 Newtons;
any deflection outside a tolerance of 15mm (5mm downwards,
10mm upwards) would failthe test. The F2007’s splitter
was hinged at the rear, where it was attached to the tub,
and fi xed at the front tothe underside of the car’s nose bya
stay containing a pair of springs, one in tension and one in
“BRAWN HAD PREPARED FOR HIS DEPARTURE EXQUISITELY, THOUGH,
LEAVING EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL SCHOOLED IN HIS METHODOLOGIES.”
speed; and they could ride kerbs more aggressively, enabling
drivers to take liberties through chicanes.Sin ce the FIA had
been using ride height as a tool tolimit performance gains for
over a decade, it acted immediately to put the brakes onsuch
systems, announcing a new scrutineering procedurefrom
round two, the Malaysian Grand Prix, onwards.compression, which were tuneable depending on the nature of
the circuit andthe am ount of ballastcarried in the splitter.
Flexible splitters unlocked a virtuous circle of performance
benefits: cars could run lower at high speed, enabling their
aerodynamic furniture towor k more optimally; there was
the potential to stall the diffuser for a gain in straightline
GP RACING JULY 2020 77