Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

"Extreme" 2020 Ferrari F1 design aimed at "maximum aero performance"

Ferrari says its new SF1000 Formula 1 car is an "extreme" design, hinting at a change of concept with its challenger for the 2020 season

It's 2019 car was based around a low-drag concept, which gave the SF90 an edge at high-speed tracks but meant it lost out at higher-downforce venues.

Speaking at the launch of Ferrari's 2020 car, team principal Mattia Binotto suggested that a different avenue had been pursued for this year.

"Certainly the regulations remain stable so it is difficult to transform completely the car," he said.

"The starting point is last year's car, the SF90, but certainly we're extreme on all the concepts as much as we could.

"We try to go for maximum aero performance, and try to maximise downforce level, so the entire car - the monocoque, the power unit layout, the gearbox - has been really packaged to have a narrower slim bodyshape.

"I think that is quite visible."

Binotto said Ferrari has made efforts to alter its suspension and the design of its power unit in addition to its aerodynamic changs.

"We work on all the components," he added.

"The suspension has been designed to have greater flexibility when being on the race track, so we can adapt the set-up to whatever suits the drivers and the circuit.

"We put a lot of effort to keep the weight down.

"We worked a lot on the power unit, not only for packaging, but we work on each single component to cope as well with the changing technical regulations, where the oil consumption will be reduced by 50%."

He added: "It may look very similar to last year but believe me it is completely different to last year.

"A lot of concepts are very extreme on the car."

Expanding on Binotto's comments, Sebastian Vettel added: "It's an incredible achievement, obviously a lot of hours go into the car.

"We had the opportunity to see it a little bit before, and to have also a direct comparison with last year's car, and you can really spot the differences, especially when it comes to packaging.

"In the back part of the car everything sits a lot tighter so there's a lot of work behind that, because it's not so easy.

"So we found some clever solutions to be able to achieve it.

"I can't wait to drive it because that's obviously more exciting than looking at it."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Ferrari's 2020 F1 car, the SF1000, revealed at event in Italy
Next article Ferrari: Vettel first choice to pair Leclerc in F1 2021, not Hamilton

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe