Launched
today, the F138 is the fifty ninth car built by Ferrari
specifically to take part in the Formula 1 World
Championship, and a car that the Scuderia will hope that
Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa can use to good effect
to end its recent title drought. The name comes from a
combination of the current year and the number of
cylinders, to mark the fact that this is the eighth and
final year of competition for the V8 engine
configuration.
The project, which goes by the internal code name 664,
is the first design to come from the reorganisation
concerning working methods that has been in operation
for several months, with the creation of two distinct
groups of designers: one working on this car and the
other on the completely different car which will race
next season. This car constitutes the Scuderia’s
interpretation of this year’s Technical and Sporting
Regulations, which in fact are substantially the same as
those from last season. Therefore the F138 can be seen
as an evolution of the F2012, in terms of its basic
design principals, although every single part has been
revised in order to maximise performance, while
maintaining all the characteristics which were the basis
of last season’s extraordinary reliability.
The design philosophy of the suspension layout has not
changed and it continues to use pull-rods both front and
rear, but it has been refined to the limit, in order to
gain as much aerodynamic advantage as possible,
especially at the rear. The bodywork elements have been
redesigned to allow for changes to the positioning and
layout of the exhausts. The dynamic air intake, mounted
above the cockpit has been redesigned, as have been the
intakes to the side pods, which in turn have also been
optimised in aerodynamic terms, while maintaining
unchanged the overall cooling system.
The rear of the car is much narrower and more tapered on
the lower part. The configuration of the front and rear
wings derives directly from the last versions used on
the F2012, partly because development of that car ran
all the way to the final race of last season. However,
the aerodynamic elements shown on the car are only those
from the initial phase of development: significant
modifications will be introduced in the weeks leading up
to the first race and a busy development programme is
already planned. The drag reduction system on the rear
wing has been revised and optimised to make the most of
the modifications to the Sporting Regulations that come
into play this year. There are detailed changes to the
design of the brake ducts, both front and rear and work
has been carried out with Brembo on optimising the
braking system overall. During both the design and
production stages, great attention has been paid to
weight reduction and on increasing rigidity. This theme
was carried out through all departments working together
– Chassis, Engine and Electronics and Production – which
bears witness to the importance of being able to design
and build a car with everyone working side by side in
the same place, which has always been the case at
Ferrari.
The engine on the F138 is an evolution of the one fitted
to the car last year, inevitably given that the
technical regulations forbid modifications to internal
components aimed at improving performance. Given the
consequent difficulty of finding performance increases
through internal modifications, work was intensified on
ensuring that the engine’s performance level remained as
high as possible throughout the lifecycle of each power
unit, which has now reached an average life of three
races.
The kinetic energy recovery system retains its location
in the lower-central part of the car, a strategic choice
which has always been adopted by the team, partly with
the aim of ensuring maximum safety. Once again this
year, a great deal of effort has gone into reducing its
weight and size, at the same time improving the
efficiency of some of its components and, as in the case
of the engine, maintaining the highest performance level
throughout the KERS usage cycle. The technical
collaboration with Shell, which has run for several
decades now, has led to further progress on the fuel and
lubricants front, aimed at increasing performance in
overall terms and also on maintaining it throughout the
engine’s life, as well as reducing consumption.
As for the electronics, it is worth noting the
introduction, ahead of schedule, of the single control
unit that will be used in 2014. This has involved a lot
of work to integrate and control all its features in
terms of both software and hardware.
In keeping with a Ferrari tradition, much time has been
dedicated to the performance and improvement of the
materials used, at the design stage of each of the six
thousand or so components which make up the car, in
order to make all the on-track work more effective and
efficient. Obviously, quality control remains a vital
aspect, with the aim of achieving the highest levels of
performance and reliability, at the same time as
maintaining the highest safety standards possible.
With only twelve days of testing available before the
start of the Championship, the preparatory work on the
test benches prior to the car’s track debut, has taken
on even more importance. The three test sessions – at
Jerez de la Frontera and Barcelona – will allow the team
to get to understand the behaviour of the F138 and to
adapt it to the new Pirelli tyres: in fact, tyre use is
an area that has seen a lot of work both at the design
stage and in its management at the track. Also very
important and something that will not only be restricted
to the winter months, has been the effort invested in
areas that could influence the result of a Grand Prix,
such as the team’s pit stop work, reduction of time
spent going through the pit lane, strategy management
and the start procedure.
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