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Ferrari's bid to bring much-needed performance to its 2019 Formula 1 car has included it revisiting a floor concept that it appeared to have abandoned at the end of last year As Giorgio Piola's exclusive drawing shows (above), Ferrari's upgrade for Baku included a small change to the floor - adding a bank of three fins at the rear corner just ahead of the tyre squirt slot. These fins were something that Ferrari tried in numerous practice sessions at the end of last year, starting in Japan, but could not get to work in the way it hoped.   Ferrari SF71H floor comparison, Suzuka Photo by: Giorgio Piola But now it appears that team is more confident in the design...

Ferrari became the first Formula 1 team to run a new generation of brake discs at the Mexican Grand Prix, featuring an unprecedented 1400 holes to help cooling.   The unique high-altitude demands of Mexico, where teams struggle to keep temperatures of engines and brakes under control, was the perfect proving ground for the new disc that will be made available to all customers in 2019. F1's brake suppliers have long balanced out increasing the number of holes to help cooling with the need for structural integrity of the disc itself. Twenty years ago there were less than 30 big holes around the centre of the disc, and this number only increased dramatically around five years ago when drilling more than...

Ferrari’s return to form at the United States Grand Prix coincided with a eureka moment for the Formula 1 team, as it finally realized that some it's recent upgrades have not worked out as it hoped. Its determination to try to make a success of recent developments had seen it persist in pushing down this route, but only when it rolled back on some of its parts did it get confirmation that it still had a quick car underneath it. For Sebastian Vettel, having a competitive car and answers to recent struggles was reason to both celebrate and cry. “It took too long," he said. "You can see it is good news but you can also see it is bad...

Ferrari may be in need of a dramatic turnaround in fortunes if it is to overhaul Mercedes for the world championship, but the scale of an upgrade it introduced in Russia shows it is far from giving up. Wholesale changes were on the menu for Ferrari in Russia, as the team introduced a significant update package for the front-end of the SF71H that hints at a new concept direction for the team.   Ferrari SF71H front wing Photo by: Giorgio Piola   Ferrari's new front wing blends the current concept, some ideas used by Red Bull and innovations that now make sense based on the team's understanding of the 2019 regulations. Ferrari's design team has incorporated the novel footplate solution...

The British Grand Prix was a major test for Ferrari's in-season development, and the Scuderia passed - running Mercedes closer than expected over one lap and winning the race. Just a week after a major update at Mercedes helped the German car manufacturer deliver a pace change in Austria, Ferrari’s own developments appeared to make the difference at Silverstone.     The high-speed track has traditionally been the perfect stomping ground for Mercedes, but the tweaks to Ferrari’s floor delivered a step up in speed that made a big difference.  Here, Giorgio Piola and Matt Somerfield look at the tweaks in detail.   Floor overhaul The long gill-like holes in the SF71H’s floor have been updated, as an extra hole was introduced...