探索法拉利美国大奖赛“不到十分之一”的更新方案
法拉利为美国大奖赛推出的最新更新包括对地板前缘‘手指’的独特处理，尽管两位车手都淡化了新部件的重要性。SF-26的侧箱也进行了轻微的修改，包括对进气口和提前进站的微小调整。
探索法拉利的'不到十分之一'美国大奖赛更新包
刘易斯·汉密尔顿和查尔斯·勒克莱尔都对法拉利为美国大奖赛准备的更新持低调态度，但其中还有更多内容超出了极限圈速的提升
法拉利为一级方程式美国大奖赛推出的最新更新包括对地板前缘'手指'的独特处理方法，尽管两位车手都淡化了新部件的重要性
SF-26的侧箱也进行了一些微调，包括对进气口和提前进站连接到上游地板板的小改动。法拉利的赛前技术说明指出，这些改动旨在增加流向车身后部的气流能量，目的是让扩散器工作得更努力。
扩散器也进行了更新，通过修改扩散器的整体体积以及内部地板围栏的小幅调整，来增加从车尾释放的气流膨胀。
地板的前端，五个地板围栏（或手指）有助于控制通过地板下方的气流，最大限度地减少该气流中的整体湍流，以确保扩散器高效工作。法拉利将最外侧的手指延长，使其越过顶部，提供一个水平气流调节器，以进一步提高这里的气流质量。
刘易斯·汉密尔顿对周末的期望保持谨慎，在FP1之前表示，这些调整的价值“不到十分之一”，而他的赛车与美洲赛车场的匹配将产生更大的性能波动，而查尔斯·勒克莱尔也同等程度地贬低了新部件的影响。
“它们不是重大的升级；我听到很多关于它们的事情，但它们并不像可能传说的那样大，”勒克莱尔表示。
“显然，这是朝着正确方向迈出的一小步，就像往常一样，这是我们的目标。然后我们还需要把它安装在车上，跑出前几圈，看看我们预期的这一步是否真的在那里。”
“然而，我听说其他车队也在带来大的升级，所以我们将不得不看看它与它们相比如何。但我并不期望有什么非常重大的变化，但我希望它可以帮助我们迈出那小小的一步，帮助我们赢得比赛。”
法拉利在奥斯汀周末的首场练习赛中展现了稳定的速度，尽管勒克莱尔跑得最快，但马克斯·维斯塔潘短暂设定的基准因为超车线而被取消。”
为什么要引入一个‘不到十分之一秒’的升级？
如果汉密尔顿对法拉利更新的评估是正确的，考虑到生产和运输新部件到美国的成本，这听起来微不足道。但更新包的内容远不止于这些主要数字。
通过增强车辆后部的气流，车辆可以更一致地产生更高的下压力。这可能不会大幅改变峰值圈速，但它应该能确保由于风速变化而导致的空气动力学性能波动更少。如果你能控制车辆后部的风速，即使在车辆制动和转弯的轴向运动中，也能提供一个更稳定的平台。
提高一致性是一回事，这些发展也可以成为2027年的起点。下压力板的指数量将从五个减少到三个，因此探索下压力板延长可能会帮助找回下个赛季失去的性能。
这些都是推测性的例子，但部分探索了为什么一个车队会在主要数字只有小幅提升时推动升级投入使用。最终，这是关于为未来创造一个平台，或者增强现有空气动力学的特性，以最小化圈速的波动。
英文原文
Exploring Ferrari's 'less than a tenth' US GP update package
Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have played down Ferrari's updates for the United States GP, but there's more to them beyond peak lap time
Ferrari's latest clutch of updates for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix feature a unique approach to the 'fingers' situated at the front edge of the floor, although both drivers have played down the significance of the new parts.
The SF-26 has also been given a minor rework to the sidepods, with a small change to the inlet and the undercut to link up with a minor change to the floor board upstream. Ferrari's pre-event technical notes state that these changes intend to increase the energy of the airflow passing to the rear of the car, with the intent of getting the diffuser to work harder.
The diffuser has also been updated to increase the expansion of the flow released from the rear of the car, by modifying the overall volume of the diffuser itself along with small tweaks to the internal floor fences.
At the front of the floor, the five floor fences (or fingers) help to control the airflow passing underneath the floor, minimising the overall turbulence present in that flow to ensure the diffuser works efficiently. Ferrari has extended the outermost finger to reach over the top, offering a horizontal flow conditioner to further improve the airflow quality here.
Lewis Hamilton kept a lid on expectations for the weekend, suggesting pre-FP1 that the tweaks are worth "less than a tenth" and that its car chiming with the Circuit of the Americas would generate a bigger performance swing, while Charles Leclerc equally downplayed the effect of the new parts.
"They are not major upgrades; I've heard quite a lot about them, but they are not as big as maybe what's going around," Leclerc stated.
"It's a small step in the right direction, obviously, as always, that's the target. Then we still need to put it on the car and do the first few laps and see whether that's the step we expected is there.
"However, there are other teams I think I've heard that are bringing big upgrades, and so we'll have to see how it is compared to them. But I don't expect anything hugely significant, but I hope it can help us just do that little step forward and help us win the races."
Ferrari demonstrated solid pace in the opening practice session of the Austin weekend with Leclerc going fastest, although Max Verstappen's short-lived benchmark was deleted for track limits.
Why introduce an upgrade worth "less than a tenth?"
If Hamilton's assessment about the Ferrari update is correct, it does sound like small potatoes given the cost outlay required in producing and shipping new parts to the US. But there's more to an update package beyond the headline numbers.
By energising the flow to the rear end of the car, the car can generate higher levels of downforce more consistently. It might not change the peak lap time by a great deal, but it should ensure that there are fewer fluctuations in aero performance due to any changes airspeed. If you can control that airspeed moving to the rear of the car, even during the car's axial motion when braking and cornering, it provides a more stable platform.
Improving consistency is one thing, and the developments can also become a jumping-off point for 2027. The number of floor fingers will be reduced from five to three next season, so potentially exploring that floor finger extension could help to reclaim any of the performance lost next season.
These are largely speculative examples, but do partly explore the idea of why a team would press an upgrade into service when the headline numbers only yield a small improvement. Ultimately, it's about either creating a platform for whatever comes next, or enhancing the properties of the existing aerodynamics to minimise the variance in lap time.
Motorsport.com ·
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