Thursday, June 21, 2007

World’s most expensive fan belt

So just what is up in Ferrari land? I mean why the current three race slump. Including the shellacking by McLaren finishing 1-2 last weekend.

And as previously mentioned some astute pit lane reporter. NO! Not Derr-Wreck Daily! But I think Peter Windsor mentioned the fact that Ferrari recently suffered a belt failure to their single rolling road wind tunnel. And it’s interesting to learn that the steel belt that propels this portion of the wind tunnel runs at a speed of 180mph! Which means F1 engines aren’t the only thing that goes KABLAMOE!

Yet surely this single factor cannot simply be the sole reason of Ferrari’s slump? I know that aerodynamics play a crucial role of a Formula 1 race cars success. But I just can’t believe that the lack of a wind tunnel for a few days would indeed be so critical! I suspect it has more to do with the fact that Ferrari is running a long wheelbase chassis. As well as the redesign of the “Flexi-floor.” At least I believe the longer wheelbase was a key issue at Monaco.

Now why is it that every time I write longer wheelbase all I can think of is the old Pontiac commercial. “Wider is Better!” As Pontiac tried vainly selling a “wide-track” Grand Prix model a few years ago…

This downtime of the past 24 hours makes me ponder if Ferrari’s decision to invest heavily in CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) is such a wise thing to proceed with? I mean CFD requires enormous amounts of computing… Which, ergo. Means having your own “Super Confuzer” which NEVER goes off line. Quick, somebody please tell me if the lights are still on in Maranello?