Ferrari reveals SF1000 and stays faithful to concept

Ferrari have stylishly kicked off their 2020 Formula One campaign by unveiling their new SF1000 racecar in a presentatian at Romolo Valli Municipal Theatre in Reggio Emilia, a city not far from Ferrari's headquarters.

Louis Camilleri kicked off the presentation, thanking the team's partners, and especially the team members who have worked at Ferrari for 35 years. All of them were asked to stand up, receiving a warm applause from the crowd present at the scene.

"I think the upcoming season will be challenging, with 22 races. It will be exhilarating. But, time is not on our side, and it will be up to Mattia Binotto and his team, as well as Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, to get us through this challenge.

I have the greatest respect for Mattia's leadership skills, who instils the passion into the Formula One team, enabling us to achieve our goals."

After a short musical intermezzo, Marc Gene and Mattia Binotto took to the stage, also thanking the team, following which at 18:54, the new SF1000 was unveiled.

Mattia Binotto afterwards declared: "The regulations have remained stable, so it was a bit difficult to transform the car completely. We've gone as extreme as we could on the concept by trying to maximise the downforce.

The suspension has been redesigned to have more freedom on the set-up, allowing for a wider range of set-ups to better match various circuit requirements.

I know the car looks very similar to the one from last year, but I can assure you, underneath the skin it is a very extreme development, and it's very different from its predecessor."

Indeed, the car was that presented appeared similar at first sight, with the car still featuring the outwash front wing, and the typical thumb style nose with a flat upper surface.

The presented barge boards did appear considerably different, more towards what features on the McLaren MCL34. The sidepods continue to feature the high air inlet, with ahead of it wide flow conditioners that connect the monocoque to the aerodynamic elements outboard to manage the wake of the front wheels.

Both Binotto and Vettel outlined the team's efforts to achieve a more shapely coke bottle at the rear of the car in an effort to further reduce aerodynamic drag and increase the efficiency of the rear wing and diffuser.