Baku, February 24, AZERTAC

Just hours after reigning world champions Mercedes launched their 2017 challenger at Silverstone, their closest rivals from last season – Ferrari – presented their new F1 car in Italy, according to the official website of Formula 1.

The SF71H builds on the foundations of last year's multi-race winning SF70H, albeit with several noticeable differences.

The most obvious visual change is a return to a traditional all-red livery, with the new-for-2018 halo also painted in the colour.

However, closer inspection reveals plenty of significant changes to the chassis, with the car having both a longer wheelbase than its predecessor, as well as an even more aggressive sidepod design, a revised cooling system and updated aerodynamics.

The suspension follows Ferrari’s tried and tested practice of using push-rods at the front and pull-rods at the rear, however, the team say their design has been updated based on experience gained during the first season running Pirelli’s wider tyres.

"The SF71H represents an evolution of last year’s car, which was already a good project," explained Technical Director, Mattia Binotto. "We’ve tried to retain the strengths. Our strengths I would say first is aggressiveness in some of the concepts.

"We designed a car that was somehow performing very well on low speed circuits, but we knew we had to work on new areas of development. For example, trying to develop the car to be strong in performance on the high-speed circuits, but also on reliability.

"What has changed? The main difference is we have a slightly longer wheelbase compared to last year. We have the sidepods, the radiator ducts which are even more aggressive and innovative than what we had last year. Overall, the entire team did a fantastic job in terms of packaging to be very tight. If you look at the body it’s a very narrow body."

The new car will make its track debut during a filming day in Barcelona on Sunday February 25, one day before pre-season testing begins at the Spanish circuit.

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will share driving duties.