The Ferrari SF71H was a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Scuderia Ferrari to compete during the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Mattia Binotto, Simone Resta, Enrico Cardile and David Sanchez with Corrado Iotti leading the powertrain design. The car was driven by Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen,[3] and made its competitive debut at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.

Ferrari SF71H
The SF71H, driven by Sebastian Vettel, during the Austrian Grand Prix
CategoryFormula One
ConstructorFerrari
Designer(s)Mattia Binotto (Technical Director)
Simone Resta (Chief Designer)
Fabio Montecchi (Deputy Chief Designer)
Tiziano Battistini (Head of Chassis Design)
Andrea De Zordo (Head of Development)
Giacomo Tortora (Chief Vehicle Dynamicist)
Enrico Cardile (Head of Aerodynamics)
David Sanchez (Chief Aerodynamicist)
Rory Byrne (Technical Consultant)
PredecessorFerrari SF70H
SuccessorFerrari SF90
Technical specifications[1][2]
Wheelbase3621 mm
EngineFerrari 062 EVO 1.6 L (98 cu in) direct injection V6 turbocharged engine limited to 15,000 RPM in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive layout
Electric motorFerrari kinetic and thermal energy recovery systems
TransmissionEight forward and one reverse gears
Weight733 kg (1,616.0 lb)
FuelShell V-Power
LubricantsShell Helix Ultra
BrakesBrembo ventilated and cross-drilled carbon ceramic discs
TyresPirelli P Zero (dry)
Pirelli Cinturato (wet)
OZ forged magnesium wheels: 13"
Competition history
Notable entrantsScuderia Ferrari
Notable drivers5. Germany Sebastian Vettel
7. Finland Kimi Räikkönen
Debut2018 Australian Grand Prix
First win2018 Australian Grand Prix
Last win2018 United States Grand Prix
Last event2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF/Laps
2162464

Keeping with his tradition to name his cars, Vettel named his SF71H "Loria".[4]

Livery

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As Santander dropped their sponsorship, the livery features very little white, similar to the livery used in the 2007, 2008, and 2009 cars. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Ferrari introduced a new livery, carrying the logo of Mission Winnow, a joint promotion with major sponsor Philip Morris International.[5]

Design and development

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The SF71H features a longer wheelbase than its predecessor, the SF70H, and a revised cooling system. Ferrari have further evolved their philosophy of moving the crash structure outside the sidepods, creating a complex bargeboard array and sidepod inlet configuration, even including winglets on the rear view mirrors. A small shark fin goes down the engine cover, and supports a low T-wing above the exhaust and spanning almost the entire width of the rear wing.[6]

One of the most significant updates of the season came at the Spanish Grand Prix, where Ferrari changed the way the mirrors were mounted, switching from a standard position to having them mounted on the Halo. They also added a winglet above each mirror, but the FIA deemed them illegal, despite claims from the team that they were intended to support the mirrors. Therefore, they were removed at the next race in Monaco.[7]

After being outperformed by Mercedes at the Singapore, Russian, and Japanese Grand Prix, Ferrari removed some of their updates at the United States Grand Prix, which allowed them to compete with and beat Mercedes again.[8]

Racing history

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Räikkönen at the Italian Grand Prix, where he took his final pole position of his career; He would finish the race in second

The SF71H took two wins in the three opening Grands Prix and set two new track records at the Bahrain International Circuit and the Shanghai International Circuit while qualifying on pole. Thus in these three races the car seemed to be faster than their rivals Mercedes AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+.[9] As of the end of the 2021 championship, the SF71H is Ferrari's most successful car in the hybrid engine era (2014–present), scoring 6 wins (5 by Vettel, 1 by Räikkönen) and 24 podiums, surpassing its predecessor, the SF70H, that had 5 wins and 20 podiums.

Legacy

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Until the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix, the SF71H driven by Sebastian Vettel held the fastest overall lap record at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps beating that of Neel Jani in the Porsche 919 Evo. The car that beat the SF71H's record is the Mercedes F1 W11.[10] Until the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, the SF71H driven by Kimi Räikkönen held the lap record at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, beating that of Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams FW26 and the lap with the highest average speed of 263.587 km/h (163.785 mph).[11] That record was also broken by the Mercedes F1 W11 with an average speed of 264.363 km/h (164.268 mph).[12]

Later use

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After the 2018 season, the car was driven by Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott, Robert Schwartzman and Oliver Bearman in the end-of-year test.

Bearman drove the SF71H at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2023 and 2024, with the car being painted in the current year's livery.

Complete Formula One results

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(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers Grands Prix Points WCC
AUS BHR CHN AZE ESP MON CAN FRA AUT GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN RUS JPN USA MEX BRA ABU
2018 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 062 EVO P Kimi Räikkönen 3 Ret 3 2 Ret 4 6 3 2 3 3 3 Ret 2 5 4 5 1 3 3 Ret 571 2nd
Sebastian Vettel 1 1 8 4 4 2 1 5 3 1 Ret 2 1 4 3 3 6 4 2 6 2

References

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  1. ^ "Ferrari F1 2018, ecco la SF71H, Arrivabene: «Un pezzo d'eccellenza del made in Italy»". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 22 February 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Scott (12 November 2017). "Pirelli to introduce new softest-compound pink-walled F1 tyre in '18". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017.
  3. ^ "2018 F1 Entry List". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 1 February 2018. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Vettel names his 2018 Ferrari F1 car 'Loria'". The Pits. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2023 – via ESPN.
  5. ^ Collantine, Keith (4 October 2018). "Ferrari reveals new 'Mission Winnow' livery in Japan". Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  6. ^ Coch, Mat (23 February 2018). "Ferrari reveals SF71H 2018 Formula 1 entry". Speedcafe. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  7. ^ Noble, Jonathan (23 May 2018). "Ferrari F1 team changes halo mirrors for Monaco after FIA ruling". Autosport.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  8. ^ Nobkle, Jonathan (20 October 2018). "Vettel: Ferrari boosted by ditching recent upgrades". Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  9. ^ Baldwin, Alan (14 April 2018). "Hamilton questions whether Mercedes can challenge Ferrari". reuters.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  10. ^ Mitchell, Scott. "Sebastian Vettel's Belgian GP qualifying lap beats Porsche record". Autosport.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Move Over Montoya: Raikkonen breaks record for fastest lap in F1 history". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Statistics Drivers - Misc - Fastests qualifications". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 10 February 2021.