Ferrari will use a modified front-wing in Abu Dhabi to combat the extreme flexing saw on Felipe Massa’s car during the Indian Grand Prix a week ago.
The Brazilian’s front-wing, particularly the endplates, could be seen scraping along the track, creating sparks down the main straight as it flexed beyond the intended amount.
A revised wing will be used at the upcoming Abu Dhabi GP, after the outfit put the blame on a manufacturing fault.
“I think the biggest addition we’ve made in performance terms in recent races is the new front wing which we first tried in Korea,” said technical director Pat Fry. “We then ran it again on both cars in India.
“It is a very interesting development for us, as it does change the characteristics of the car and getting to understand how to get the most out of it is certainly an interesting challenge and in the short term it has helped our performance.
“We had some quality issue on one of the wings used in India but this solution will be in Abu Dhabi again, although after watching its behaviour at the last race, much work has been done to modify certain aspects of it before both drivers will try it this coming weekend.”
The team are also hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2010 race in which Fernando Alonso lost the title to Sebastian Vettel, after he ran into problems when it came to overtaking.
“Last year, as we found to our cost, overtaking was very difficult at this circuit,” he explained. “However, we have seen a big change this year thanks to several factors including the DRS.”
The Yas Marina circuit will feature two DRS zones, which Fry believes will banish the processional nature of the track.
“In some cases, it was found that the DRS zones were not long enough and this will no doubt be adjusted for next year, while at other tracks, it was relatively simple to overtake another car. So I’m sure that, with two DRS zone available, it will be easier this weekend than in 2010, but until we get to the track it is hard to say exactly how straightforward it will be.
“We will keep on pushing as hard as we can. In terms of what we can expect for this weekend, it will be similar to the last few races, which means that if we put everything together perfectly, as we did in India with Fernando we should have a reasonable chance of getting onto the podium.”
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