Ferrari F138 launch – first pictures and video

2013 F1 cars

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The Ferrari F138 has been launched by the team in Maranello.

Ferrari retain their driver line-up of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa for the fourth year in a row as it bids to taste championship success for the first time since 2008.

Team principal Stefano Domenicali described the car as an “evolution” of the car which the team raced in 2012 and said it represented the “first step” in the team’s development for this year.

The F138 was developed under the internal code name 664 and is the first product of the team’s technical reorganisation.

The car retains the pull-rod front and rear suspension used on last year’s car. According to the team the car’s bodywork has been redesigned to improve its aerodynamic performance – a key weakness of recent Ferraris.

The F138’s Kinetic Energy Recovery System has been revised and lightened. However Ferrari stressed they are keen to repeat the high levels of reliability they enjoyed with the F2012.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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106 comments on “Ferrari F138 launch – first pictures and video”

  1. Oh God. I like the look of a Ferrari. That can’t be a good sign…

    1. Lol, flashbacks of 1996? Not that I thought the 96 Ferrari looked good, but Barnard admitted that he liked the look of the design and that he drew inspiration from the flow of the car… Which ended up in being the worst car Ferrari had produced in many years :P

    2. To me this looks way too busy. They’ve go the nose right; very clean. From there back, it looks like a mess of bolted on parts we usually don’t see until the end of a season. I hope ugly is fast.

    3. Is it just me or does it seems that Ferrari are hiding the rear view of the car?

      1. right…if u look closely not only they are hiding the rear but there are part missing. Also 0 information about the weight distribution…Domenicali says in decembre that the car we will see it only in Australia…

        1. weight distribution is fixed under the regs.

          1. However, it remains a point of contention, the grey area being that the distribution has the possibility to change.

      2. @arrrang Could some ‘Device’ on plan there as suggested by the double air intake above driver’s head … Surely they didn’t putt the duck to the rear wing yet, but the rest seems there to make it happens.

        For the reste very similar to last year (except maybe the rear suspension which is quite a big modification)

  2. Wow! That looks awesome!

    1. Can’t say that I’m a fan. The front wing supports are still too chunky, and the nose itself is too square. Also, the inlet behind the engine intake makes it look hunch-backed. It’s quite nice otherwise, but the nose in particular is one of the main features that makes a car look nice, and this just doesn’t have an even slightly elegant one.

      1. Flying Lobster 27
        1st February 2013, 12:16

        The square nose may not be pretty, but I guess it’s been kept because Felipe can conveniently place his boxes there should Ferrari ask him to move out at the end of the year. :D

  3. Oh, this actually look very good.

  4. The first 2013 car launch I get to watch Live! Ironically, Vodafone internet outage in my area prevented me from watching McLaren launch!

  5. mattshaw85 (@)
    1st February 2013, 9:10

    Personally, I wish they wouldn’t use so much white.

    1. Somehow I like it. I think white goes well with red.

    2. @mattshaw85 same. It looks odd too.

    3. I guess they have to try and give the cigarette company some value for their sponsorship dollar. Can’t personally see any value from that mutilated cigarette company brand on the car.

  6. The white lines, shape of sidepods and lack of stepped nose makes the F138 look surprisingly cute.

  7. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    1st February 2013, 9:10

    Doesn’t look great, but Atleast it’s better than last years. IMO their last beautiful car was the F150

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      1st February 2013, 9:14

      However a I love the new paint job on the rear wing. Looks good!

  8. The modesty panel tidies the car up a hell of a lot. Good work Ferrari in changing your livery subtly and very effectively, take note Lotus and McLaren!

    1. The McLaren has a modesty panel…

      1. Never said McLaren didn’t, just that McLaren could’ve changed their livery from mind-numbingly boring to something a little more interesting.

        1. Of course, it was really exciting when it first came out.

  9. Looking fantastic! Can’t imagine another car will beat this one’s looks this year!

  10. Hoorah for no step nose!

  11. That modesty panel did the looks of that car a whole lot of good!

    On another note, is it me, or is the red this year a little darker and a little more scarlet? It looks awesome.

    1. Good point. Hard to tell at this stage. Would love to see a return of the metallic red of late-2007 and 2008.

    2. Yeah the red does look darker to me, it might have been the same colour in 2012, but i swear the ferrari’s are starting to get darker over the years or maybe it’s just the light. I think i will judge the colour when it drives in sunny spain!

      1. It would be an interesting reversal if the red actually got darker, as Ferrari’s creation of Rosso Scuderia was because their original Rosso Corsa looked too dark on TV cameras!

    3. Does Ferrari really play with its red colour?
      I somehow can’t imagine that. Most likely the exact hue is exactly defined in the corporate identity manual, or not?

      1. Ok, just after posting I read this:
        “Since 1996 Ferrari F1 cars are painted in a brighter, almost orange day-glo to adjust for colour balance on television screens. The original Rosso Corsa may appear almost dark brown in older television sets. The darker more crimson or claret-like shade of red made a return on the F1 cars at the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix, possibly in line with the increasing market presence of higher quality high definition television.”

        1. I don’t know where that quote’s from, but given F1 wasn’t broadcast in HD until 2011 that seems an unlikely explanation.

          1. Drop Valencia!
            1st February 2013, 12:22

            But digital broadcast was coming in then from analouge… most potential Fez owners were watching on their massive 42 inch plasmas…

          2. Says so on the Wikipedia page for Rosso Corsa:
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosso_corsa
            Unfortunately there is no source given.

          3. The 2006 Japanese Grand Prix was broadcast in HD exclusively in Japan.

    4. Ferrari uses a red that matches up with the Marlboro red due to their Philip Morris sponsorship. There might not be a Marlboro logo on the car any longer, but the Scuderia Ferrari logo on the airbox certainly is reminiscent of the Marlboro logo that used to sit there.

  12. Damn, that’s one elegant looking car. Loving the front section especially! Guess Lotus were wrong when they speculated everyone else would be using modesty panels. I guess Ferrari either found some aerodynamic/downforce benefit or otherwise just like making beautiful cars. They are Italian after all. Bellissimo!

    Here’s the 2012 car at an almost identical angle for comparison

    1. EDIT: I mean’t to say that Lotus speculated that everyone else wouldn’t be using modesty panels, of course. Early mornings are a disaster for my clarity of thinking!

      1. Yeah i was gunna say its funny Lotus saying unlikly others would use them, only for the next 2 cars – 2 of their main competitors – using them :]

  13. The white stripes down the side vaguely remind me of AF Corse’s swooshes on their 458 GTE. Overall, a nice tidy looking Ferrari this year (should be a good thing).

    1. On further inspection, I kinda wish they ran the Italian tricolore all the way down the nose and behind the sponsor logos, rather than have it end abruptly before the Shell logo.

    2. They remind me of Marussia. The livery is cluttered and overdone for me, but more red on the wings is a step in the right direction.

  14. I think I love it

  15. I like how they’ve used red on the bottom of the front wing and the use of white, I think it’s good to mix it up once in a while.

  16. I just fell in love.

  17. Dont like the nose cone. Looks like its been crashed already. The rounded edges do take away something from the overall design I feel. Otherwise good job with the livery. Hope its quick and not a dog.

  18. Yes Ferrari thank you for making a good looking car again,

    Sincerely,
    Everyone who watched the 2012 release

  19. The McLaren has just been beaten by the Ferrari. I think I’m in love! We wanted more black on the Ferrari and we got it.

    1. I didn’t want more black and I didn’t want more white. I wanted more red… but I still like it ;)

  20. James Allison has 0 out 2 so far.

    1. All we need is Force India to make it 3 out of 3. This would be an awesome COTD if it were. :)

  21. Other than the nose and exhaust area this looks incredibly close to last years car. The livery changes are great, not my favourite Ferrari ever (I’d love to see a 2007-2009 style all red car again if they have the sponsors to allow it) but it’s a nice change.

  22. The front shot (last image) looks sick! like a big opened mouth waiting to eat someone! Looks like they will have pretty good airflow from that…

    1. The front shot (last image) looks sick! like a big opened mouth waiting to eat someone!

      LOL

  23. The nose looks very high: it seems like they have used the modesty panel to make the car even higher, as suggested by Scarbs. The front wing looks already like an evolution of the old wing with the 6 cascades. Pull rod suspension, like their old car and now McLaren’s car. Remarkably the sidepod inlets look the same as on the old car, though they could have decided to not show that on the launch car. They’ve also got the same exhaust as last year. At first glance, I would say that it looks much much slimmer than the old car at the rear.

    Most significant change looks to be the rear wing. Apart from a revised DRS activation system, they cut the rear wing endplates into a multiple elements. I have never seen that before, nice!

    1. Yeah the nose using the modesty panel was the first thing I saw, but also fascinated by their interpretation of the rear wing slots there. It makes sense, but since they had the slots on the section below there for a few seasons, wondering why it’s taken them this long to get up the sides… maybe they found a loop-hole finally to let them up the full length?

      Nice car!

    2. Just did a quick comparison with the old car: the sidepods shape is almost exactly the same as last year. I have to get back to the slimness of the rear: I’ve been tricked a little by that, that is also very similar to last year, maybe a tiny bit slimmer. All in all I would say I’m surprised about the level of detail on the front and rear wing and that looks very nice, but aerodynamically it is not that different from last year’s car.

  24. Im not a big fan of it, I preferred last years nose and front end, it looked like a beast.

    1. @mattynotwo u r probably the only person in the world who liked the step nose

      1. i liked it too.

  25. This is the best looking Ferrari in years, since 2001 in my opinion.

  26. That curve in the livery on the front wing support looks a bit awkward …

  27. Didn’t think I’d be saying this after last year, but Ferrari is currently the best looking car for 2013, patiently waiting on all the other new cars to change that thought though

  28. Its a minger! Sorry guys, no offence intended. It just doesn’t do it for me! Totally underwhelmed!

  29. Of the three cars unveiled so far this has got to be the best looking and I like the fact that Ferrari have used the modesty panel. A massive improvement on last years car, here’s hoping that it can push Red Bull all the way and not just at the beginning of the season.

  30. Looks brilliant! Good job Ferrari.

  31. cutter than lotus and mclaren! incredible!

  32. My fave so far it looks fanatastic to me.

  33. Wow, that’s one sexy beast! I didn’t expect that.

  34. Pains me to say it but.. What a beaut.

  35. ONE WORD : AWESOME

  36. I always thought the modesty panel was just gonna be a sloped piece that you could “bolt-on” over the step to make it look like no so much of a drop & more of a slope with the nosecone. To me this just looks like they’re using a thick (or tall or fat or whatever you want to call it) nose cone. IDK maybe I just interpreted what the the FIA meant by modesty panel.

    Somebody mentioned about the curve of the white/black stripe on the front-wing supports, I think it’s done like that so when on-track (or not a static closeup picture) it looks as if those big pylons are skinny ones instead.

  37. Sviatoslav Andrushko (@)
    1st February 2013, 10:01

    The very best!!! It’s the first time since 2008 when I like Ferrari car most. Presumably, it’s because they got rid of that ridiculous nose. I love it!

  38. vuelve kowalsky
    1st February 2013, 10:08

    i hope alonso can win with this one. vettel must leave something for the rest. I am starting to feel like during the schumacher era. ****** off big time.

  39. I’d agree with @prisonermonkeys and say the curve at the front looks a little awkward. It’s be awesome if it just carried on in a line! But the whole thing is growing on me the more and more I look at it. It’s actually quite hard getting used to straight noses again!

    1. @electrolite and @prisoner-monkeys

      I have to say that curve really lets down what is otherwise a very nice livery. It’s lazy livery design attempting to join the red front wing to the rest of the car, but it’s working to highlight and so clashes badly with the boxy angular nature of the leading edge of the front wing support, when it should be hiding it, making the red nose look pointed. If the supports were all black and the white line continued around the point of the nose (or just under) to join up with the other side, it would nicely hide the blunt nose side profile, then just paint a white line where the black support joins the red wing, and you’d have a fantastic looking paint job.

  40. I love it.

    Hopefully it’ll bring a lot of cheer for us this year!

  41. I think a majority of the people like it because of the refreshing dark red livery and some patches of white … Me too …I like the looks and think its stunning …… but how about the speed ? think it will be fast ? any pundits ?

    1. well if it will be a dog, at least it’s pretty to look at :)… but yea, hope we can quote Button from last year and say: “It’s beauty and she’s fast!” :DDDDDDD

  42. It’s absolutely superb from every angle, to be honest. I actually think Ferrari nailed it this year. I can only imagine Merc coming with something better looking than this, maybe. However that is an absolute monster of a front end there, on the F138…

    I also love the livery. It makes me think of the AF Corse GT cars. There’s a certain (pure) racing pedigree coming with that.

    I’d would pin this on my wall without even thinking about it.

  43. That black underneath the car gives it a shape it doesn’t have. I don’t know about others but that is one fine looking car. Maybe it’s because i m a die hard ferrari fan. Well, it remains to be seen whether it ll be fast. They haven’t done a lot of changes have they? It still looks like the last car from some angles. Notice the rear? Apparently no team is making dramatic changes. The Mclaren and the Lotus also look like last year’s car. Anyway, i am also waiting for the Red bull launch to see how much changes they ll make to their car.

  44. I wish they would just write ‘Ferrari’ in big letters on the engine cover instead of that horrible faux- Marlboro badge thing

    1. @taurus I think that’s the point. You know how it is with ciggie advertising nowadays.

      1. @journeyer yeah i know, I just wish they’d stop pretending!

  45. I like it so much that order one !

  46. Absolutely beautiful. Best looking car so far.

  47. wow those are some tight sidepods. Wonder if they really pushed cooling capacity to the utter minimum needed (even for F1 standards).

  48. thankyou thankyou thankyou ferrari! for showing that the livery can have continuity from year to year without being exactly the same! (i.e mclaren) i do quite like this new livery, i do wish they would get rid of that horrible logo on the engine cover though, ive always hated that. Im in the minority when i say i quite like the way last year ferrari looked, the nose seems almost boring when compared to the f2012 but overall its a decent looking ferrari, it will look even better to me if it can win the title ;)

  49. Very much looking forward to seeing this one hit the track! F1 cars are pretty again! Yay!

  50. Beautiful looking car. I especially like the use of red on the front wing. I also really like the chunky look of the nose and front wing pillars. Hopefully it’s as fast as it is beautiful.

  51. Michael Brown (@)
    1st February 2013, 13:46

    Awesome livery

  52. I’m sure its been said, but didn’t Ferrari last win the Championship in 07 and not 08?

    1. No, they last won the constructors title in 2008

  53. Bit busy for a Ferrari, but it makes a good looking car. The modesty panels now only reinforce for me just how unnatural the stepped noses looked on racing cars.

  54. I know I’m biased, but the car looks great! The nose seems higher and the rear is tighter. I like the livery with the white stripe on the sides. The front view looks really mean. Many people are saying the car looks alot like last year, but remember, it finished 2 and 3 in the last race. If they keep all the good things from 2012 and improve the aero, this car has plenty of potential to bring Alonso #3 and Ferrari another Constructors title. If Felipe is on form like he was in Brazil, Ferrari will be hard to beat. 2013 is looking like an exciting year already. :)
    IMO Maclaren will drop a little with the loss of Hamilton. Mercedes will move up with said Hamilton. Lotus may improve now that Kimi is full tilt at the beginning of the season. And it looks as though it will be RBR vs Ferrari and or 1 of the other 3 mentioned. I can’t wait…….

  55. I really wish I still had photoshop, but this is roughly what I would have done instead of the curve!

    1. Nice idea but try to lead the white stripe up to the peak of the nose cone, that would look even better.

  56. zen master says that come australia 2013 and redbull will be p1 ,maclaren p2…ferrari will be third or fouth best…mark the words of zen master…that ferrari is a dud

  57. damn the new ferrari looks sexy
    and fast

  58. as i was expecting AMD logo is gone… shame, GOOD LUCK AMD!!

  59. I don’t like how these cars have a nose which is at the same height as the cockpit rather than going downwards, but it’s still an ernormous improvement over last season.
    I like how the livery is darker, with a red which is more pinkish than orange, and I like the front and rear wings which look more similar to the beautiful 2007-09 liveries. The extra black is not bad but the white looks strange, and although the colour itself fits well it looks out of place.
    I like the fact that in these two years the cars are nearly identical to their predecessors, it makes me feel like we have reached the maximum performance possible and there is nearly nothing to improve!

  60. Michael Brown (@)
    2nd February 2013, 1:06

    So this is Ferrari’s 59th F1 car. Why is this, for a team that competed in F1 since 1950?

    1. In the very early stages of Formula 1 history teams used to give their drivers the same car for several seasons, they didn’t release a new car every year like nowadays.

  61. Looks less aggressive then f150. Rear endplates look awesome though with those vertical cuts.

    1. I mean f2012 instead of f150

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