Scuderia Fans

  • News
  • Current Drivers
    • Charles Leclerc
    • Lewis Hamilton
  • Races
    • 2025 F1 Spanish Grand Prix
    • 2025 F1 Canadian Grand Prix
    • 2025 F1 Austrian Grand Prix
    • 2025 F1 British Grand Prix
    • 2025 F1 Belgian Grand Prix
    • 2025 F1 Dutch Grand Prix
    • 2025 F1 Italian Grand Prix
  • Ferrari Champions
    • Michael Schumacher
    • Kimi Raikkonen
    • Niki Lauda
    • Jody Scheckter
    • John Surtees
    • Phil Hill
    • Mike Hawthorn
    • Juan-Manuel Fangio
    • Alberto Ascari
  • Former Ferrari drivers
    • Sebastian Vettel
    • Felipe Massa
    • Fernando Alonso
    • Gilles Villeneuve
    • Jean Alesi
    • Alain Prost
    • Nigel Mansell
    • Gerhard Berger
    • Mario Andretti
    • Rubens Barrichello
    • Michele Alboreto
    • Patrick Tambay
    • Eddie Irvine
    • Rene Arnoux
    • Didier Pironi
    • Jacky Ickx
    • Carlos Reutemann
    • Clay Regazzoni
    • Stefan Johansson
    • Arturo Merzario
    • Giancarlo Fisichella
    • Carlos Sainz
  • Memorable moments
  • F1 Travel Guides
    • 2024 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix Tickets
    • 2024 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Tickets
    • 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Tickets
  • F1 TICKETS
  • Advertise
  • Shop now!
  • Home
  • Formula 1 Schedule & Results
  • Formula 1 Driver Standings
  • Formula 1 Constructor Standings
  • Contact us
Home » Tech insight: analyzing Ferrari’s philosophy in terms of chassis length

Tech insight: analyzing Ferrari’s philosophy in terms of chassis length. Last year’s Ferrari was around 14cm shorter in wheelbase than the Mercedes.

Last year Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari both produced race-winning cars despite adopting very different philosophies in terms of chassis length. The Silver Arrows ultimately proved the dominant force, so it’s perhaps no surprise that this year the Prancing Horse have changed tack – but how significant will it be? Mark Hughes and Giorgio Piola explain the long and short of it.

Although last year’s two title contenders have remained faithful to their respective low- and high-rake concepts (essentially the angle of the floor of the car in relation to the track), there has been some design convergence in that Ferrari have significantly increased the wheelbase of their 2018 car. In fact, the Ferrari SF71H and Mercedes W09 now share a near-identical wheelbase at just under 370cm.

Last year’s Ferrari was around 14cm shorter in wheelbase than the Mercedes, helping it to be significantly lighter (pre-ballast) but contributing to a higher drag level and potentially surrendering some underfloor downforce. On the Scuderia’s new car, the wheelbase has been extended by moving the front axle forward relative to the cockpit, and the rear back by a slightly greater extent. And the significance of this change? A potential downforce benefit at both ends of the car.

Increasing the distance between front axle and sidepods allows bigger, more powerful vanes and barge boards to accelerate the airflow towards the back of the car. It also gives the airflow more distance in which to change direction without detaching and increasing drag.

Pulling the rear axle line further back by increasing the length of the gearbox casing increases the floor area. The downforce produced by the underfloor is a function of the floor’s area and the speed of its airflow, and so at a given airflow speed the bigger floor will produce more total downforce.

Another factor pushing Ferrari in this direction is the halo which brings an extra 14-15kg high up in the car, increasing the centre of gravity height. There has been a big preoccupation at all the teams to counteract this by bringing the weight down lower elsewhere. One way of doing this is to increase the wheelbase length to create room for heavy mechanical components such as radiators and intercoolers to be mounted lower.

The challenge for any team increasing wheelbase is, of course, to keep the car light enough that the required range of ballast can be utilised to vary the fore/aft weight distribution from circuit to circuit as required (around 5kg of ballast is required to cover the full permitted range of between 45.5% front/54.5% rear and 46.7% front/53.3% rear).

Ferrari F1 merchandise

Have Scuderia Ferrari got it right? Only time will tell..

Mar 10, 2018Scuderia Fans
Let other Scuderia Fans know about us
fb-share-icon
Tweet
Pin Share
Kimi Raikkonen comments and impressions after Day 4 of the second Barcelona testF1, Ferrari pronta per la Cina: orari, circuito e televisione

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Scuderia Fans
7 years ago News2018 Formula 1 season, Scuderia Ferrari, SF71H459
Gear up with Ferrari merchandise!
#KeepFightingMichael

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F1

2025 Formula 1 calendar

2025 Formula 1 calendar

Latest articles

  • Will Ferrari’s Mugello Filming Day bring the breakthrough the SF-25 needs?
  • Sauber’s technical breakthrough: former Ferrari engineer reveals secret to recent success
  • Watch LIVE: Onboard with Ferrari Hypercars #50 and #51 at the 6 Hours of São Paulo | 2025 WEC
  • Push-rod vs Pull-rod explained: why Ferrari changed suspension philosophy and what went wrong
  • Video – Felipe Massa drives his 2008 Ferrari F1 car at Goodwood 2025: “An incredible feeling”
<
Partners
non-GamStop casinos

best online casinos not on GamStop

GP-News - latest F1 news updates

kasyno internetowe

The most accurate sports predictions and latest news available on TipsGG

1Win

live dealer casinos not blocked by GamStop

>games not on gamstop

Football Betting Not on GamStop

non gamstop casino

Sports betting without GamStop

Migliori Casinò Non AAMS

UK Bookmakers Not on GamStop

BetZillion's list of the best motor racing betting sites

non Gamstop betting sites

オンラインカジノ マスターカード

Personal Injury Lawyer in Abilene Texas

Formula 1 Standings

Formula 1 News

Guitar Junky

Best Intraday Tips

Contact Center Company

SilverArrows.Net - Mercedes F1 news

TopSpeed

Esports Forum

Racing Statistics

Fixture Calendar

Live F1 Results

Contribute

Get In Touch With Us
  • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy
Categories

Meet the team

About us

Our writers

Archives
Let other Scuderia Fans know about us!
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
YOUTUBE
INSTAGRAM

© 2016 Scuderia Fans Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Scuderia Fans Ltd, 199 Republicii Street, 5A
Ploiesti, Romania, 100392

Want to experience the thrill of online gaming as if you were on the field? If so, a no deposit bonus is a great opportunity. Visit https://kasynoonlineautomaty.pl and find the best offer. As part of this promotion, players receive free funds or free spins that they can use in casino games without investing their own money.

2024 © Scuderia Fans