Tech insight - Ferrari’s Singapore brakes & barge boards

Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit could not be more different to Monza, the last venue visited by the teams this year. Ferrari came here as pre-race favourites – and here’s just a couple of features that will help Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen extract maximum performance from the SF70H this weekend…

Singapore places heavy demands on a Formula 1 car’s stopping power, thanks to several major braking events with little track time in between to aid cooling. No surprise, then, that the discs used here have the maximum number of venting holes – around 1,400 in the case of Ferrari’s Brembo set-up. Those holes are arranged in diagonal lines of six, contrasting with the horizontal lines of five seen in Monza (inset). Note also the unusual pick-up point for the suspension’s push rod link (red arrow), which can be easily changed to allow for different suspension geometries.

These unusual longitudinal barge boards have been on the SF70H since launch and subsequently copied by Red Bull. Ferrari upgraded theirs for Budapest and those changes feature again for the not dissimilar Singapore circuit. Working in conjunction with the small amount of blowing from the flat section of the tea tray under the chassis, they better manage the airflow around the side pods and feed the rear diffuser area.