Scuderia Ferrari launched their F138 F1 car last week. This took place in Ferrari’s home town of Maranello, Italy. The event was attended by Luca di Montezemolo, Stefano Domenicali, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. The new car, which will be driven by Alonso and Massa during the 2013 Formula One season, was revealed to a packed room of international journalists all eagerly awaiting the first glimpse of the Ferrari F138. (My ticket must have got lost in the post.)
The F138 is the 59th car built by Ferrari specifically to take part in the Formula One World Championship. 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.
Ferrari F138.
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 maximize performance, while maintaining all the characteristics which were the basis of last season’s extraordinary reliability.
Shell is again the supplier of fuel and oils. The roots of that partnership date back to 1929 when Shell supplied fuel and lubricants to Enzo Ferrari himself. Ferrari and Shell contested the first Formula One season together in 1950 and last season they celebrated their 500th race together. The technical partnership with Shell has led to continued 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 fuel consumption.
“Formula One engine regulations are currently frozen so the only way to maximize performance of the engine is through improvement in fuel and lubricant – even half a horse power is important, every little bit counts,” said Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal Scuderia Ferrari.
