Ferrari adopts Red Bull-style exhaust for Valencia

June 20 '10

Ferrari's B version of the F10 will reportedly feature a Red Bull-style exhaust system at Valencia. The information appeared in Spain's AS newspaper, whose reporters believe ? from Ferrari sources ? that the heavily restyled car will be from 0.3 to 0.4 seconds quicker per lap as compared to the recent races in Turkey and Canada.

According to the same report, the updated Ferrari challenger will feature a modified rear suspension as well, in order to better integrate the new exhausts. The new layout is expected to open a bigger channel of air ?to double the downforce generated by the diffuser,? as reported by the GMM news agency, quoting AS.

Here is a picture of the Red Bull during the pre-season testing. The exhaust vents to the outer side of the gearbox below the bottom suspension wishbone, channelling the hot air around the rear suspension and out the top side of the floor. The Red arrow shows Red Bull's attempt to mislead rival teams by placing a sticker of an exhaust pipe on the upper bodywork below the upper wishbone, where one would expect to see it!

Ferrari have been preparing for the Valencia update for quite some time now, having lost a lot of time developing the F-duct system until now. This was actually the main reason why their car has become less competitive as compared to the championship front-runners, as argued by team boss Stefano Domenicali himself.

?For Valencia, the focus has been on other areas of the car apart from the (F-duct) rear wing,? said the Ferrari principal, according to Brazil's Globo. His comment was strengthened by Alonso's outspoken belief that the revised package for Valencia will set the base for a whole new perspective for Ferrari for the rest of the 2010 season.

?The most important improvement in Valencia is not what we achieve there, but the way it opens us developments to be stronger for the remainder of the season,? said Alonso.

At Ferrari?s own Fiorano test circuit on Friday (18th June), Fernando Alonso drove the F10 for the ?promotional and filming? reasons as permitted by the test ban.

But, as confirmed by Italian media sources, the 2010 car was in its full Valencia specification, including Red Bull-style low exhausts, designed to channel more air to the double-diffuser.

?You have to make the most of any opportunity in this era of the testing ban,? the Italian team said.

A 14 seconds video below, with Alonso testing the F10b in Fiorano was leaked on Youtube and f1around.files.wordpress.com compiled the image and compared it beautifully with that of Ferrari F10 and Red Bull RB6 as seen above.

Credit : Autoevolution, F1Aldia. Images(C) Google, F1Around, F1Aldia

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Tony Trimmer Maurice Trintignant Wolfgang von Trips