Scuderia Ferrari have revealed their new car for the 2021 season, with the legendary Maranello marque opting for a slight break from tradition in its reworked livery.
The paint scheme features the typical red uniformity towards the front end along with a small alteration to the numbering, whilst the rear of the car sports a unique ombré effect that sees the customary scarlet fade into a much darker burgundy colour- similar to that of Ferrari’s special 1000th race livery in Mugello.
As well as a new livery, the prancing horse will have a new driver line-up for this season, with Spaniard Carlos Sainz arriving from McLaren to partner race-winner and prodigious talent Charles Leclerc. The two are set to be Ferrari’s youngest driver pairing since the 60s.
After a comparatively tragic season in 2020, the Italian brand is hoping for a more positive 2021 campaign. The team fought to finish a measly sixth in the constructors’ championship last year, scarcely attaining points and podiums without trouble at the front of the pack due to an uncompetitive engine and poor chassis design.
Team principal Mattia Binotto said that, in order to rectify the issues faced in 2020, the car will debut a ‘completely new power unit’ so as to maximise straight-line speed, but expressed that ‘this year will be full of challenges.’ Speaking about the revolutionised PU, head of power unit technology Enrico Gualtieri divulged that Ferrari engineers estimated the boost in power will be worth ‘over a tenth a lap.’
“We adopted a systematic approach, with all departments – design, simulation, development, track – working together to find every opportunity for improvement. Along with our colleagues on the chassis side, we worked a lot on the layout of the power unit, to make the overall design of the car as efficient as possible. With the internal combustion engine, we focused on increasing its level of thermal efficiency, in conjunction with our partner Shell and this has produced an improvement in lap time that we estimate at over one tenth of a second.”
But although the team’s new PU should be nothing to scoff at, the car is not expected to make monumental gains into the new season as a result of the COVID-19 induced ‘development freeze’- meaning podiums will likely be as infrequent as last year. Chassis head Enrico Cardile said that, aside from minor reworkings, ‘the chassis itself and the suspension is off last year’s SF1000.’
One thing is or certain, though: The pressure is on. After Ferrari’s worst championship finish since 1980, progress is expected quickly, and the clock is ticking for the legendary prancing horse to make improvements fast.
