F1 News: Ferrari Tests New Component At Fiorano

Ferrari's recent Fiorano tests mark a significant step in the ongoing development and evaluation of FIA-approved spray guards, intended to improve safety and performance in wet weather conditions.

May 4, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc (16) during F1 qualifying / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

The Ferrari Formula 1 team has conducted further tests on a new spray guard system at the Fiorano circuit. The trial, which took place on Thursday, involved Arthur Leclerc piloting the adapted SF-75.

In a continued effort to enhance racing safety and performance in wet conditions, Ferrari’s Formula 1 team undertook another significant trial of the spray guards at their own Fiorano circuit this past Thursday. This latest trial follows a series of initiatives led by the FIA to reduce the visibility issues caused by spray in wet races.

Driving the SF-75, equipped with the new spray guard system, was Arthur Leclerc, the younger brother of Ferrari star Charles Leclerc. The vehicle featured front and rear wet tires completely shrouded by the newly designed guards, with the front guards equipped with two openings at the front but none at the back, presumably to mitigate aerodynamic disturbances.

FIA prototype rain guards... thoughts??

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— FormulaNerds 🤓🏁 (@Formula_Nerds) May 9, 2024

The purpose of these tests was not just to evaluate the effectiveness of these guards in slashing the amount of spray thrown by the tires, but also to assess the possible impacts on the car's aerodynamics and performance. Adding to the complexity of these tests, Ferrari's 2024 challenger was driven by reserve driver Oliver Bearman, who followed closely to monitor and report on the visibility conditions.

The spray guard development process first gained public attention last year when the FIA orchestrated initial trials during a session at Silverstone. These preliminary tests, conducted with Mercedes and McLaren’s collaboration, however, had shown minimal impact on improving visibility. Nikolas Tombazis, FIA’s head of single-seater matters, provided a candid assessment of those early efforts to Autosport:

"What was done at Silverstone, with the help of Mercedes who created parts and McLaren [who ran a car to get feedback on spray] was perhaps too optimistic an experiment.

"The spray guards covered too little of the wheel. I was quite sceptical and imagined that we wouldn't see important results."

Addressing the challenges, Tombazis added:

"Having started this project towards the end of last year, and done quite a lot of CFD simulations, we did understand quite soon that it was not quite as simple as just put something on, off you go, and you're done.

"We didn't want to lose too much performance of the cars and mess up the aerodynamics too much, although some of it is inevitable.

"And the actual aerodynamic load on these big mudguards or whatever you call them, if you have a complete cover, that would have quite high dynamic load. And therefore their support on the uprights would have to be fairly robust to not fly off at 300km/h."