Its been a busy week thus far for the F1 community with plenty of F1 teams revealing their hopefuls for the 2018 season. Today it was Ferrari’s turn, the team lifted the covers off the SF71H challenger at their Maranello HQ just four days before pre-season testing begins. There are no major rule changes to be implemented for the upcoming season which begins on March 25 at the Austrailian GP.
However, the introduction of the Halo cockpit protection device could be considered as being quite a major rule change as much as it is a major aesthetical change.
Ferrari has made a slight design change to the chassis of the SF71H which will now have a longer wheel-base, a philosophy also favored by Mercedes.
Another minor change sees the banning of aerodynamic “shark-fins” and T-Wings. Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel remain paired in what will be their 4th successive campaign together.
The 2018 campaign could well be Kimi Raikkonen’s last season in F1, at 38 Raikkonen seems as fast as ever but time is never the best ally for a sportsman, eventually retirement beckons.
Nevertheless, Raikkonen has had a good run, a sixteen-year F1 career means that the 2007 former world champ has always been a highly prized asset.
However, Sebastian Vettel will most certainly have the number 1 status within the team, this is the way of the Scuderia they always favor one at the expense of another.