Former Formula 1 designer Gary Anderson believes that the “brave” and unique design of Ferrari’s 2022 car could be a sign that everyone else has so far headed down the wrong route, but stresses it is more likely that the Scuderia have developed a “disjointed” car.
F1’s technical regulations have drastically changed ahead of this season, with the aerodynamics being simplified and the ground effect making a return.
From the beginning, it did not look as though the Italian side were about to have any issues on the power unit side of the operation, and it was reported that they had entirely mitigated the 20-horsepower drop by working with Shell to develop a fuel blend of 90 percent fossil fuels and 10 percent ethanol – all part of F1’s sustainability plan.
However, doubts have lingered over whether they have nailed the aerodynamic package or whether this would be the factor that lets them down in 2022.
Anderson, writing in an article for The Race, starts with the front wing and notes that the Ferrari “is very different from the Aston Martin or the McLaren approach, both of which have a continuous slot gap between the first and second elements. Ferrari does not.”
The 70-year-old believes that the approach from the Maranello factory on the front end is not a prudent one.
“Normally with a highly-loaded inboard section, if you vary the angle of the inner section of the fourth element it has a detrimental effect on the airflow further downstream,” he explained.
“So Ferrari might just be boxed in that little bit with how much front downforce it can produce.”
Reports had emanated that Ferrari would opt for a pull-rod suspension, but the Northern Irishman confirms they have indeed gone with the conventional pushrod approach, meaning that McLaren are still the only team this season to introduce a pull-rod design.
Particularly striking was the sudden abatement on the sidepod, which sharply dips down into a valley.
While it may look exciting, Anderson sees absolutely no benefit to the interesting design philosophy, and believes that it will adversely affect cooling.
“But I’m not sure why you would want to sweep it down into this valley. If the louvres were positioned in the bottom of this valley it might just contain that low-energy airflow but they are positioned on the engine cover sides.
“So this undercut on the top surface will compromise the cooling package underneath the body surfaces as it takes up space. It looks like the radiator is rectangular shaped starting at the highest point at the front of the sidepod and going down to the floor further rearward.”
The former Jordan designer quips that it looks as though two different sets of designers were deployed onto the front and rear on the car, and sees no harmony between the two ends.
“But the front and rear don’t seem to connect for me. It doesn’t look like they follow the same philosophy,” he stated.
“It appears to me that there were two design teams working flat out on each end of the car!”
He concedes that the adventurous package the Scuderia have come up with may well indicate that they have nailed the new regulations while everyone else has got the wrong idea, but he emphasises his disappointment in what he does not believe will be a race-winning machine.
“I was looking forward to what Ferrari was going to bring to the show, but based on what we’ve been shown so far I’m a bit disappointed,” he admitted.
“But if this car concept is the real deal, it means everyone else has headed down the wrong avenue and I don’t believe that is likely.”
Ferrari will be aiming to break into the top two this season having ended the 2021 campaign third in the Constructors’ Championship.
They have retained their driver pairing of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz for 2022.