Ferrari F138 Gets a Nose Job for the 2013 Season

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Formula 1 car, and it is the first car that we have seen this year with significant changes over last year. Ferrari straightened out last year's crooked, stepped nose and has also changed the bodywork at the rear of the car. 

The name for the latest Ferrari comes from combining the year 2013 with its V8 engine. 

Ferrari admits that the F138 is mostly an evolution of last year's car. It is simply because the rules are so similar to last season.

The most obvious change is the straightened nose compared to last year, which makes the car look visually longer and lower. Ferrari is sticking with its pull-rod suspension from last season, but it has been refined for aerodynamics at the rear. The rear bodywork is also more narrow and comes to a sharper point to allow for a change in the position and layout of the exhausts. Ferrari says that the top and side air intakes have also been redesigned, but the differences are very small. 

Ferrari says that the car is not finished yet, aerodynamically. It already has upgrades planned to the wings that will be installed before the first race. 

Under the regulations, Ferrari is not allowed to modify most parts of the engine to increase power. It says that it has found some efficiency to make last year's engine more reliable, though. 

One final innovation on the car is the single control unit that is being introduced ahead of schedule on the F138. It is the same type of unit that will be used for the 2014 season. 

The F138 will hit the track for the first time next week during the test session at Jerez.

The 2013 will be difficult for Ferrari. The team has several problems with its wind tunnel last year. So much so, that they are building a new full-size wind tunnel at Maranello. That wind tunnel will not be completed until the summer Formula 1 break. Until then, they are renting the Toyota Motorsports wind tunnel in Cologne. 

It is also a smaller team developing the car this year. Ferrari split its team to develop the 2013 and 2014 car simultaneously.