Ferrari technical director James Allison says that the team’s recent investment in its wind tunnel and aerodynamic team have returned the team to the “cutting edge” of Formula One.
“Aerodynamics remains the lifeblood of a modern Formula 1 car,” he told the Ferrari website. “It’s impossible to be competitive without having the right tools and adequate resources: now we can say we have moved on from being maybe the fourth or fifth team in terms of the tools we have, to once again being at the cutting edge and everything is in place to open up a new Ferrari era.”
Next season we will see massive changes in engine and other technical regulations with turbo V6s replacing the V8s and greater emphasis on energy recovery. Allison told the Ferrari website that he believed this would shift the focus away from aerodynamics a little.
“It’s true that the influence of the power unit on overall performance of the car will be much greater than in the recent past. From when, in 2007, the freeze on engine development took hold and performance levels converged, it’s clear that its influence on the pecking order got ever smaller, while aerodynamics grew in importance,” he said. “In the years leading up to that point, that wasn’t the case: I can well remember how important the engine was in terms of Ferrari’s successes in the first half of the Noughties. Now we will witness a re-balancing, although aerodynamics will still be a key factor.”
Allison joined Ferrari in September having left Lotus earlier this year but insists he has not been focusing on next year’s car. Instead he has been working on instead ensuring that the team was equipped with the right tools, and the best people for the year ahead.
“I definitely haven’t spent time going into the details of the design of the new car, as it wouldn’t make any sense at this stage,” he said. “Rather, I concentrated on trying to direct adequate resources and on putting the best people in the right places to optimise attention to detail.”
“Actually, when you tackle a regulation change like this one, it’s not something you only start thinking about six months beforehand. When I arrived in Maranello, work on the project had been on going for two years. I tried to immerse myself in its philosophy and adapt to the team as quickly as possible,” he continued. “Having said that, what you could call my active role in the design of the car involves working identifying the areas on which maybe we should push harder and concentrate more effort.”
