Analysis

Bite-size tech: Ferrari's under chassis 'bat-wing'

Ferrari's updates for the Malaysian GP include an old bedfellow, as the SF16-H has been seen with an under chassis 'bat-wing' during practice.

It's an appendage first brought to prominence by Mercedes in 2014, and used by the championship leader ever since. Sitting astride the ride height sensor it helps to redirect airflow moving under the car's nose and chassis to improve flow downstream.

Ferrari employed a 'bat-wing' in the latter phases of 2015, with the appendage used on the SF15-T from the US GP onwards but, its change to a 'thumb' style nose and revised turning vanes in 2016 has excluded its use thus far.

The new 'bat-wing' comes as part of a package, with a new set of turning vanes paired to them to improve how airflow moves down and around the sidepod's undercut, whilst also more accurately defining the Y250 vortex shed by the front wing.

Ferrari SF16H fins, British GP

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Earlier in the season the the team chased another concept, when it introduced a set of chassis vanes at Silverstone this year.

These vanes perform a similar role to the 'bat-wing' and have also been tested in FP3 as the team looks to balance the SF16-H's performance around the varied Sepang circuit layout.

As always it's the compromise between outright speed on the long straights versus balance and downforce for the reprofiled corners that make these nuanced differences so important.