FERRARI SF71H

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

Aurelio Lampredi, Franco Rocchi, Mauro Forghieri, Harvey Postlethwaite, John Barnard, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne. The corridors of Maranello echo to some of the most legendary names in Formula 1 design through the ages. Ferrari tried to hire Newey, too, of course, but could never get the great British maverick to swap the UK for Italy, despite offering him “the crown jewels”.

Ferrari’s technical team has been through multiple cycles of hirings and firings in the decade since they last won a world championship in 2008, with notable technical names such as Aldo Costa, Nikolas Tombazis, Pat Fry and Mercedes’

F1 RACING VERDICT Steeped in grandeur but haunted .g by failure radually laying ghosts to rest by marrying humility with passionate aggression.

James Allison all sacrificed on the altar of failed ambition. Because Ferrari must win. Anything less is unconscionable failure. Bettering Byrne and Ross Brawn, however, has proved troublesome for the Scuderia.

With great responsibility comes great pressure, and currently that weight falls upon the shoulders of Mattia Binotto, an unassuming engineer of Swiss stock, who has risen gradually through Ferrari’s ranks since joining the test team in the mid-1990s. Since becoming chief technical officer in the summer of 2016, Binotto has sought to implement a philosophy of greater collaboration between design departments, rather than the pursuit of excellence in isolation – though Byrne still lurks in the background, offering a guiding light through the design corridors.

Last year’s SF70H was the first complete product of Binotto’s process. Early in the season, it was by far the most consistently raceable car on the grid – particularly good on low-speed circuits and gentle on its tyres. Ferrari opted for a significantly shorter wheelbase than Mercedes in 2017, and also moved the sidepods rearwards to open up space in the bargeboard area – a zone ripe for aerodynamic development under the new regulations.

Notwithstanding their 2017 successes, Ferrari still ultimately fell short, producing a car that was slower than Mercedes across the balance of circuits on the calendar. So, Ferrari have opted to lengthen their car’s wheelbase for 2018, to make it “strong and performing on high-speed circuits”, according to Binotto. Ferrari also have “sidepods and radiator ducts that are even more aggressive, more innovative”, as well as tighter bodywork around the engine.

Ferrari have decided to retain a high rear ride height – somewhere between the aggressive rake of the Red

Bull and the flatter approach of Mercedes. Managing the aerodynamic consequences of the longer wheelbase, high rake, tighter engine packaging and halo means that this year’s Ferrari has sprouted special tunnels on its floor, and even some turning vanes inside the mirrors.

Higher rake aids front-wing performance at lower speeds, so Ferrari have clearly tried to take the best of both worlds – borrowing the long-wheelbase concept that helps make Mercedes so strong at high speeds, the high rear ride-height concept that helps Red Bull’s potency at low speeds, and twinning that with a front-wing concept that apes Mclaren’s.

But, as Britain is finding with Brexit, having your cake and eating it is difficult. In trying to square the circle, there remains the danger Ferrari will over-reach in pursuit of their obsessive compulsion to win at all costs.