It was the turn of Scuderia Ferrari to show off the new sponsorship livery design for the SF21. It’s a rather late showing but better late than never. The first Formula pre-season test campaign begins on Friday, March 12, which is being held at the Bahrain International Circuit. The Scuderia Ferrari suffered their worst ever season in 40 years during 2020. The team was accused of cheating the year before after suddenly finding straight-line speed during the middle of a lackluster campaign. A mysterious agreement between the Scuderia and the FIA meant Ferrari were forced to limit engine performance for 2020 due to infringing fuel management regulations. Although details of the agreement were kept secret, many observers believe it was a punishment in lieu of being kicked out of the F1 championship.
After the FIA’s intervention, during the middle of the 2019 championship, Scuderia Ferrari went backward and never recovered. Indeed they carried their poor form into the 2020 season. The pandemic and sweeping new regulatory changes scheduled for 2022 have meant 2021 spec cars are mild-evolutions from last year. Which doesn’t bode well for Ferrari. However, this year Ferrari has concentrated on the rear end of the car for improved stability and more power has been extracted from the engine. Scuderia Ferrari knows it needs credible front-row performance if it is to restore its reputation.
Team Boss Matteo Binotto:
“Last year was a big disappointment. We know we cannot repeat such a bad result. I do believe our car is better than last year,” he said. “We need to be realistic. The gap to the best was very important and not something we can recover in a single winter.
“Our focus during 2021 will be developing the 2022 car – that will be the main target so we will not spend much time on the 2021 car during the season.”
“There is always a balance. But 2022 is such a big change that there is a minimum quantity of exercise and design that needs to be developed so most of the effort will be there.”
“We know we need to do better in 2021.”
