Ferrari have confirmed they are planning on unveiling their 2022 challenger, which doesn’t yet have a name, in mid-February.
Formula 1 cars will undergo a major overhaul for the 2022 season, with very little to compare them to the current cars. They will feature 18-inch wheels, wheel covers, a more striking appearance with flowing bodywork, which will also be less complex in terms of appendages. They will produce the majority of their downforce from the floor, which it’s hoped will make it easier to follow another car more closely and promote overtaking.
Given the huge changes, teams will likely leave their launches until the last moment, with some teams likely to launch at pre-season testing, which takes place in Barcelona on February 23-25.
Ferrari will however launch ahead of testing, sticking to its tradition of hosting a launch event at its Maranello base.
Team principal Mattia Binotto confirmed during a media call that although no date has been agreed, it would take place in mid-February at least five days before testing begins.
“The car will be presented middle of February,” Binotto is quoted as saying by Autosport. “We have not decided yet the date. From the 16th to the 18th of February, that will be the date, but it’s something that will be finalised in the next weeks.”
He also confirmed no name has yet been agreed. Ferrari doesn’t follow conventional naming traditions, with this year’s car dubbed the SF21, last year’s called the SF1000, its 2019 car the SF90 and the one before that the SF71H.
Binotto added that everything is going to plan with their current development strategy and that the 2022 car will be an “innovative” one.
“If I look at the 2022 car, and the 2022 power unit, believe me there is a lot of innovation in it,” he said.
“I think that the way that the entire engineering team has faced the new design, the new project, and the 2022 regulations, which were a big discontinuity, was certainly with a more open mind than before.
“We know that we have no references to the others and [our] competitors. That’s the most difficult thing, we have no guide on what is going on with the others. But it’s important for me to know that we are reaching our objectives and it’s progressing to plan.
“We know that the change in the regulations is a big opportunity, and for us as well, [it’s] an opportunity.”
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