Ferrari’s 2014 V6 engine 059/3 previewed at factory

2014 F1 season

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Ferrari have revealed a preview of the engine which will power their cars during the 2014 F1 season.

The 059/3 engine is a 1.6-litre V6 built to the new 2014 regulations.

Head of engines and electronics Luca Marmorini said the new engine was “a very complex project” in which the team have already invested two years of work.

“It’s a 1600cc turbocharged internal combustion engine and only 100 litres of fuel can be used in a race, which means that the more efficient an engine, the more power it can use.

“Along with the turbocharger, there will be an electric motor, which will also act as a generator, allowing for the recovery of energy from the exhaust gasses. As was already the case, a second electric motor will recover energy from braking, although it will be able to put out almost double the power of the one currently in use.

“All the energy generated by the electric motors will be stored in a much bigger and more powerful battery pack than the current one, but it will still be fitted below the fuel cell. The electronic control system will be even more sophisticated to coordinate and manage all these new electro-mechanical devices.”

Marmorini said the new engine regulations for 2014 are “a fascinating challenge which places great emphasis on energy recovery and on the efficiency of the power unit”.

Technical director James Allison believes Ferrari can benefit from being one of only two F1 teams who build their engine as well as their chassis – the other being Mercedes.

“Being able to build the engine and chassis together is definitely a nice advantage for Ferrari,” said Allison.

“Other teams cannot do the same and this year, like never before, installing the new power unit in the car’s chassis will be a complex operation.

“I’ve got direct experience of that from my time at Lotus: it’s true the engine supplier tries to meet your demands, but it’s never the same thing as happens here, where there is a historical culture relating to a common task of defining and developing the design of the new car.”

Allison added he was glad to see the 2014 rules have gone further to prevent the use of exhaust-blown diffusers. “Blowing them offered interesting technical challenges, but I have to say that, personally, I am pleased they have been eliminated and that we can go back to designing exhausts aimed at getting the most out of the power of the engine.”

Ferrari 059/3 engine preview pictures

2014 F1 season


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Images © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

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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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38 comments on “Ferrari’s 2014 V6 engine 059/3 previewed at factory”

  1. Cool video, if you would exclude the music, the Shell advertising, the idea that every Shell employee permanently and forever wears a lab coat and safety goggles with the top members of staff wearing a shirt underneath the coat, the random shots of the 2013 car testing at Catalunya in February last year, the random shots of a pit stop, the refuelling of a F1 car with the same pump you see at our local gas station at 2:27, the eternal mix-up of mass and weight and the random shots of people mixing liquids with the utmost care.

    But it’s essentially pointless, because there is no real extra information they give apart from what you can read in the 2014 regulations – it’s just wrapped up a bit better I suppose.

    1. I lol’d

    2. Those are 1 or even 2 years old data, we didn’t hear any sound of new engine, never saw it. They have nice visual illustration but those could have been done long ago … Ferrari has always been the most secretive, but I don’t think it is playing in their favor anymore. Renault and Mercedes have understand that and gave some engine sound sample at least to keep our admiration for F1

      1. This is a video which gives an indication on how the Ferrari 2014 powertrain will sound. If it’s not legit it will be very close IMO. It reminds the Merc sample we heard some months ago.

          1. Wow! That sounds so much better than I expected. Thanks for sharing.

          2. @Beto

            It sounds much better because it’s a V12 (road car version). The whine sound from the transmission.

      2. Do you really think they were real engines sound samples? Be serious, they were clearly computer made electro-synthetized sound loosely resembling an F1 V6 engine. Nobody wants to reveal their secrets before the time…and btw the engine in those pictures is not the actual 059/3.

    3. Its like christmas. Wrap it up in a nice package and it becomes special @andae23!

      1. @bascb Advice for life :)

    4. andea23 you hit it right on the nose, I know nothing more then I knew 4:06 minutes ago, bombardment of Shell adverts…

    5. The only thing that I found interesting is that ERS will mean about 3 seconds per lap. I didn’t know that, although it was probably known already. That means that a malfunctioning ERS will essentially mean the end of the race, or qualifying at the back of the grid.

  2. During the latest meeting at Maranello

    MAN 1: Hey, let’s unveil our new engine *cough* powertrain *cough* but at the same time leave them completely clueless. Does that sound like anything you would like to spend money on Boss?

    LUCA: Brilliant idea!

    1. I’m pretty sure Shell would have paid for this video.

    2. @force-maikel I am sure the screening that Ferrari had for the select few yesterday had more than this video. For example, take a look at the sketch by Paolo Filliseti based on the 3D video shown to the gathering.

      https://twitter.com/paolofilise/status/414025114036875264

      1. * Paolo Filliseti Paolo Filisetti

  3. Nick Jarvis (@)
    20th December 2013, 13:40

    Is there a KERS (ERS) button next year?
    Or is the energy evenly distributed thoughout the lap?

    1. @nickj95gb I am not sure about the usage of energy recovery being ‘evenly distributed’; but it is certainly automated and driver has no control over it by way of a button. However, drivers can still control it by their judicial usage of the right foot. ;)

      1. Nick Jarvis (@)
        20th December 2013, 14:50

        That’s cool, thanks.
        I’m going to miss pressing to overtake in the F1 games, though.

    2. ERS is not a button but a map. Which is more like a Engine map where you can use it at higher power out put or lower power out put. But it should be controlled by throttle pedal.

    3. I would assume they’d have a boost function if they need it – I’m pretty sure you are allowed to discharge the 4MJ as you please during a lap, so I see no reason why you couldn’t have a large dicharge to try and overtake but sacrifice in the rest of the lap.

      1. Yes, I think you are right there @vettel1. As far as I remember, the driver could have something of a “discharge now” button, or maybe a pedal to discharge a large part of the stored energy at once, but it will have to recharge again over a couple of laps and would hurt them a bit during that time. Which is something that I think is actually a really nice way to do it – yes, you can get past, but it might leave you vulnerable for a couple of laps

        1. For precisely that reason I think DRS is no longer needed @bascb.

          1. was it ever needed …

            I know, I know, its been discussed endlessly already but I just couldn’t let the opportunity go to waste!

            Agree with that yeah, the ERS should do everything to support drivers to make that move if they are faster than the guy ahead @vettel1

  4. Didn’t know the reliability factor would be that big in 2014. Based on @keithcollantine statistics (If I’ve calculated correctly) Ferrari had only 3 technical failures in the past four seasons whereas Lotus/Renault had 9, Red Bull – 10, McLaren – 10 and Mercedes – 11.

    1. @sunlounger In the last 4 years the V8 was indeed very reliable but if you look at 2006 and specially the first couple of races you’ll see they had a lot of problems trying to make them last for only two race weekends.
      But Ferrari have always been known for their reliability and that’s a valid way to win championships too.

      1. But Ferrari have always been known for their reliability

        You obviously started watching F1 no more than 5 years ago or thereabouts. But yes, Ferrari is currently the most reliable team.

      2. But Ferrari have always been known for their reliability

        Try telling that to Jean Alesi!

        1. …and sometimes, they make trucks instead of F1 cars, as they did for Monsieur Prost. =)

    2. @sunlounger Yeah in the last four years they’ve been reliable but at the beginning in 2006 they certainly weren’t.

  5. Will the fact that the turbos are now using up all the exhaust energy mean that there won’t be any gain from having an exhaust gown diffuser next year?

  6. So why did they vote for it in the first place, in the “unanimous” Strategy Group decision?

  7. Anybody heard the rumour Kobayashi is coming back? :D

  8. David not Coulthard (@)
    20th December 2013, 16:36

    Will next year’s car have the Dino logo on it?

    And will the team be called “Scuderia Dino”?

  9. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    20th December 2013, 16:49

    @banburyhammer you’ve just given me hope about 2014 F1,… about F1 in general. Maybe Luca has read some of the comments said by his “tifosi”, and now he wants to “step back”, as he says himself it’s sometimes a wise thing to do. Yes, please, step back about that silly rule!!!

  10. Heres a slightly alternate script that didn’t quite make the cut “Here at Shell, we’re dedicated to trying to make sure that when you next fill up, that you’ll stop off in our service station. Once there, we hope that you walk in and buy lots of overpriced goodies that you really didn’t need, and hope that next time you stop in, that you’ll repeat this process so that you’ll start a habit of buying useless stuff each and every time you buy petrol. Oh, we like F1 too…”

  11. Hmmmm if that really is the engine sound in the la ferrari, then it will be by far the best sounding engine on the grid!
    I just love it though how they hid all the important stuff on the engine pics…. they just showcase the bare “lump” and no peripherals on it like MERC and RENAULT did on theirs! I have huge hopes for this season!!!

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