No more team orders Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel stand next to the new car Whether the changes over the winter are enough in the face of the advances Mercedes and Red Bull will inevitably make is another question. And as the season wore on, it became increasingly clear this was a mistake.įerrari were very strong on tracks where straight-line speed was the overwhelmingly dominant factor, but these are few and far between, and on others, they struggled, their lack of grip in the corners not only affecting performance over one lap but also increasing tyre wear, a particularly debilitating effect over a race distance. In the quest for an efficient car, they had compromised downforce. Will all this work? Ferrari realised they had taken a mis-step last year. The rear suspension has been completely reworked, and the bodywork rear of the cockpit shrunk down as much as possible, in a style reminiscent of the Red Bull, which many felt by the end of last year was possibly the best chassis on the grid. Here, a lot of work has taken place to open up the airflow in the quest "for the maximum aero performance first, trying to maximise the downforce level," Binotto said. It was at the rear where the most obvious changes were to be found. The slimmer car makes the diffuser work better and the overall downforce has certainly increased." If you look at the turning vanes there is high complexity. "We think it is the right concept for us. "We will not change the concept whatever we test," Binotto said. But Binotto said the fundamental philosophy will remain.
The wing on the launch car was an old one, the design that finished last season. This is effectively the opposite approach from Mercedes in the way it directs the airflow over the rest of the car, and one which is known to limit absolute downforce. The front wing was perhaps a surprise, in that it carries over the philosophy Ferrari pursued last year. He acknowledged its superficial aesthetic similarity with the 2019 car but he emphasised: "We have been extreme on the concept as much as we could." There were loose-limbed dancers in red and white, stretching the limits of physical possibility.įerrari were second to Mercedes in last year's constructors' championship Mixed signals from the new car designĪfter all that, the car on first impression appeared something of a disappointment, bearing a strong resemblance to last year's design, which was found wanting in its pursuit of Mercedes.īut team principal Mattia Binotto insisted that appearances were deceptive.
The lovely theatre that hosted the launch was built in 1857, and is one of the grandest examples of neo-classicist architecture.Ī 20-piece orchestra and 19-strong choir introduced the event with dramatic Carmina Burana-style music.
The town was where the Italian tricolour was unveiled more than a century and a half ago. They chose Reggio Emilia for its links with the origins of the Italian state, and as a representation of Ferrari's position as a national F1 team. The trend in recent years has been for low-key launches - Mercedes and Red Bull, for example, are not holding events at all this year, preferring to run their cars in private at Silverstone this week and release their own pictures and press releases.īut F1's most famous team went grandiose for the car they have called the SF1000, to reflect the fact that the team will reach the landmark of their 1,000th World Championship grand prix this season. But it will take more than fate for Ferrari to live up to their ambitions and stop Lewis Hamilton's march to a seventh world title in 2020. The building's glorious facade was bathed in red light, reflecting the colour of the car about to be unveiled inside.Ī more serendipitous setting for the debut of the machine that carries the hopes of Leclerc, Vettel and an entire nation could hardly be imagined.
0 kommentar(er)
