For many years Formula One cars have traditionally mounted the oil tank at the front of the engine (red arrow on the inset Mercedes layout). This serves two purposes: it helps move weight to the centre of the car, and also allows teams to use a taller - and therefore more efficient - oil tank design. With the changes for 2014 making the power unit far more complicated to package, Ferrari have decided to go back to a bell housing/front of gearbox-mounted oil tank (red arrow on the Ferrari engine) to help them optimise the F14 T's aerodynamic design. In addition, they have also mounted the MGU-K (blue arrow) on the back of the engine. Mercedes and Renault, by contrast, have the oil tank and MGU-K mounted on the side and towards the front of the engine.
Ferrari have had to increase the wheelbase of their car to achieve this more aerodynamically efficient layout, and have also had to incorporate an extra gear train to connect the MGU-K to the crank shaft. These are small sacrifices, however. A far bigger one perhaps is that the layout reduces their ability to centralise the mass weight of the car. That is critical to reducing inertia - important because a car with lower inertia is easier to drive at, or near, the limit of adhesion. With Ferrari engine deals, Sauber and Marussia will also be using the same packaging.
source: http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2014/927/1213.html
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