Ferrari and AlphaTauri set for extra pre-season preparation

Formula One’s two Italian squads Ferrari and AlphaTauri are planning to carry out extra on-track preparation ahead of the official pre-season testing with both outfits looking set to use one of their previous cars.

Motorsport.com reported that AlphaTauri is set to give its rookie Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda an opportunity in order to prepare the Sagamihara-born driver for the new season.

The 20-year-old driver, who ended up third in this year’s FIA Formula 2 Championship, has already completed a test run with the team’s two-year-old car at Imola following the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. This test is set to take place at the end of January.

Furthermore, AlphaTauri is also planning a filming day before the pre-season testing which is expected to be held at the end of February. Although the chassis of the team’s new car will be the same as the one of its 2020 car, the AT01, it will feature revised aerodynamics due to the changes to the Technical Regulations.

Teams are allocated with two filming days during a season when they can complete a maximum of 100km and are obliged to use Pirelli’s special demonstration tyres.

Ferrari’s Team Principal Mattia Binotto said in December that the Scuderia wants to help its new driver Carlos Sainz in his integration into the Maranello-based outfit. Ferrari originally wanted to work with Carlos Sainz during the post-season testing that took place at the Yas Marina Circuit after the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, the team did not get the necessary permission from the FIA.

With the pre-season testing lasting only three days in 2021, it will be a big challenge for drivers, who are swapping their previous teams for the coming season, to fully get up to speed with their new machinery for the this year's championship. Ferrari, therefore, has scheduled a running for Carlos Sainz which is set to take place at the end of January. Charles Leclerc is also expected to get behind the wheel of Ferrari’s three-year-old SF71H alongside his Spanish teammate.

The official pre-season testing is poised to take place in Bahrain between 12th and 14 March, just two weeks before the 72th season of the FIA Formula One World Championship gets underway in Sakhir.