[Monster Hesh]

Nice work Monster. Look how much narrower the sidepods are!

Cant take credit, ripped from elsewhere, a good picture.

[Jody Barton]

Soooo.... everyone has managed to trim their sidepods down quite a bit then. I think on Monday we'll get a clearer picture, but it looks like Ferrari have gone soft suspension while Mercedes have yet again gone rock hard with their suspension. The tightest packaging looks to be RBR so far, Merc, then Ferrari. Obviously there's still McLaren and Force India to come, but I suspect only McLaren might be able to get anywhere near what the big 3 have done in terms of packaging.

---

Looks like from head on Ferrari have the second narrowest sidepods after RBR, the Merc ones seem quite wide.

[Purple-banana]

I’m not sure about that Ferrari picture anymore - where are the rear tyres!? My guess is it’s a different perspective and the picture was taken closer to the car than the old one, so the narrowed sidepods may be an effect of that??

[Monster Hesh]

Yeah i think they have just been edited out, or they have some real extreme perspective going on.

[forzaferrari]

https://formulaone21.wordpress.com/2018/...-analysis/

Anyone got pics of the rear?

[PapaofGags]

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/spo...y-reporter

So what's going on? some oil burn lol.

[Jody Barton]

Papa, oil burn of some kind. It's not just Ferrari who have a smoking engine, Sauber do too, and Haas. Apparently the Ferrari engine drinks a lot of oil, not as in fuel, but as in it requires it to not grind itself apart. There have been a few 'questions' asked about what happens when it starts smoking at the start of a race on the grid and obscures the start procedure lights? Or entry into turn 1? I really think they could be in trouble over it.

[forzaferrari]

Ferrari is understood to have made a 10bhp gain with its 2018 Formula 1 engine, despite the increased reliability demands needed for this season.
With drivers limited to just three power units for the 21-race campaign, manufacturers have had to work hard on improving durability and beefing up components to ensure they can last seven full grands prix.

Ferrari had set an original minimum target of matching its 2017 power for the start of this season, but insiders have suggested that it managed to eke out some actual gains for its Melbourne specification 062EVO.

Under the guidance of engine technical chief Corrado Iotti, a specific effort was made to lift performance at slow and medium speeds, where there was greater potential for laptime benefit.
A number of changes have been made, starting with the turbocharger system that is now lighter. It is said to deliver a greater boost with a shorter response time and with a more efficient way of charging the MGU-H.

With the reduction in engine usage this year, another focus has been on ensuring that the second specification power unit delivers a decent performance step, and can properly allow the team to take the fight to Mercedes.

Ferrari is eager to see how the current power unit stacks up against the new Mercedes specification, especially in terms of qualifying modes that decide the grid.

One issue of concern to the team, however, is the fact that the increased weight of 2018 cars, allied to more full-throttle time over a race lap this year, will lead to an increase in fuel consumption – something that could hold it back at tracks like Melbourne.

[Jody Barton]

Only 10bhp more? I hope not for their sake, rumours have it that Mercedes have added anywhere between 50 to 100 bhp, reduced Turbo lag and reliability, not to mention they've supposedly worked hard on their battery system... could all be bollocks, but Andy Cowell and others at Mercedes seem quietly confident, don't they?

[Monster Hesh]

@AlbertFabrega