Ferrari gets boost for 2018 as F1 engine hits reliabilty targets

[vcs316]

Ferrari's 2018 Formula 1 engine has hit its reliability targets on the dyno, while encouraging results from work on a new cylinder head concept have also been reported.

F1 drivers will be limited to the use of three engines for the entire 2018 season, and manufacturers have focused intensely on ensuring their engines can last the minimum required seven-race distances.

The increased mileage needs of the new engines means that Ferrari has elected to start the campaign with an evolution of last year's 063 power unit - which suffered a spate of unexpected reliability problems late in the season.

Its target instead has been to deliver an increase in lifespan without any power drop compared to last year.

But Ferrari engine chief Corrado Iotti is believed to be leading a programme to introduce a new cylinder head later in the season, which will help in the pre-combustion phase of the engine cycle and could especially help challenge Mercedes' advantage with qualifying modes.

The engine will not feature an alloy steel piston concept, which had been proposed at the end of last year under previous engine chief Lorenzo Sassi but was abandoned in the early summer after it failed to deliver what had been hoped.

Sassi left the team in the wake of that situation and instead took up a role with Mercedes.

He is set to start work at Mercedes soon, following his enforced period of gardening leave, and could take with him inside knowledge of Ferrari's progress on the engine front in recent years.

Work on Ferrari's engine has been intense because of subtle tweaks to rules for 2018, which has included a further clampdown on oil burn.

Teams are now limited in the type of oil they can use, and must provide the FIA with detailed readings of oil usage throughout each race weekend, as part of an effort by the governing body to prevent them using oil for power boost reasons.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13...er-2018-engine

[FerrariSteve]

Awesome!

please, Please, PLEASE let it be on equal terms to the Merc.

[ferrari1.8t]

Awesome!

please, Please, PLEASE let it be on equal terms to the Merc.

Equal? No, faster YES!

[FerrariF60]

We just have to work on extracting more power out of the engine in quali trim with better engine mode maps
In order to grab that pole position; then we can just manage the race pace from the front as needed

That’s exactly what the Mercs were doing all along

[FerrariSteve]

Equal? No, faster YES!

That would be perfect but I was trying not to ask for too much lol, I know the merc engine again has been stepped up and imo if we have the same amount of power then Seb can take the title ;)

[jgonzalesm6]

I think the oil burn clampdown is going to affect Mercedes more so than the rest of the other teams. I know Ferrari was using it as well. Towards the end of the season, RedBull (Renault) took the fight to Mercedes at times.

It SHOULD make it very interesting. It will be down to sheer horsepower on the PU side.

[chinmay]

Nothing to get happy about, they have hit reliability targets meaning, they will have the same power they had in Abu Dhabi 2017 but now their engine will survive 7 races. They didn't get any performance boost because the intense work was done to get reliability sorted first.

Whereas reports are emerging from Mercedes camp that they have got reliability plus they have improved the power as well so they will be more ahead than they were last year.

To top it off, Ferrari hasn't yet developed qualifying mode. They plan to introduce cylinder head later in the season, probably Silverstone which will give them qualifying modes similar to Mercedes.

The only positive is that Ferrari had a solid chassis last year which they should be able to develop to remain competitive with Red Bull and Mercedes but that's probably it. Mercedes would easily win 5th title double, the real fight in 2018 would be between Red Bull's chassis and McLaren's chassis.

[jgonzalesm6]

Nothing to get happy about, they have hit reliability targets meaning, they will have the same power they had in Abu Dhabi 2017 but now their engine will survive 7 races. They didn't get any performance boost because the intense work was done to get reliability sorted first.

Whereas reports are emerging from Mercedes camp that they have got reliability plus they have improved the power as well so they will be more ahead than they were last year.

To top it off, Ferrari hasn't yet developed qualifying mode. They plan to introduce cylinder head later in the season, probably Silverstone which will give them qualifying modes similar to Mercedes.

The only positive is that Ferrari had a solid chassis last year which they should be able to develop to remain competitive with Red Bull and Mercedes but that's probably it. Mercedes would easily win 5th title double, the real fight in 2018 would be between Red Bull's chassis and McLaren's chassis.

I think 3 quarters into the season will be telling with regards to the reliability issues....just a wait and see mentality. Mercedes and Ferrari with Redull in the mix. Mclaren mixing it up with the Force India's and possibly RedBull. AND, let's not forget the back.....LeClerc as some of us here will be watching him. I hope he takes the fight to those Williams boys even though that FW41 looks like a mid-field contender given its overall package....not so much with the drivers.

2018 looks to be the best year in this hybrid era crap.

[wisepie]

I'd like to think that Merc will finally have some real and season-long competition from Ferrari on all levels, but I also expect the competition from other sources to be much stronger than before, not just Red Bull but also Mclaren and Renault. It worries me to think that we're still lacking the quali modes available to Merc, we need to be on their level from the opening race, not later in the season.

[FerrariF60]

I'd like to think that Merc will finally have some real and season-long competition from Ferrari on all levels, but I also expect the competition from other sources to be much stronger than before, not just Red Bull but also Mclaren and Renault. It worries me to think that we're still lacking the quali modes available to Merc, we need to be on their level from the opening race, not later in the season.

I personally think that their quali modes won’t be as powerful as they were in the past, partly because of the oil burn clampdown that the FIA has Implemented for this year, what is it like 0.6l per Grand Prix?

I’m sure that ferrari will also be affected by it, but I think that Merc will be he ones that will be hurting the most by this as they were the ones that pretty much pioneered this OIL BURN thing so don’t expect merc to pull like half a second or more like they used to in the past

Let’s just hope that ferrari has something up its sleeve this season; I like how ferrari as of 2016-2017 have had their design of car much more on the edge compared to previous years under different management when they used to be QUITE conservative

Forward Ferrari

[hakanabi]

I personally think that their quali modes won’t be as powerful as they were in the past, partly because of the oil burn clampdown that the FIA has Implemented for this year, what is it like 0.6l per Grand Prix?

I’m sure that ferrari will also be affected by it, but I think that Merc will be he ones that will be hurting the most by this as they were the ones that pretty much pioneered this OIL BURN thing so don’t expect merc to pull like half a second or more like they used to in the past

Let’s just hope that ferrari has something up its sleeve this season; I like how ferrari as of 2016-2017 have had their design of car much more on the edge compared to previous years under different management when they used to be QUITE conservative

Forward Ferrari

I hope you are right.