Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto says the 2020 car has had its design concept taken ‘to the extreme’, despite appearing similar to the 2019 car.
Ferrari’s Team Principal Mattia Binotto has said that underneath the skin of the Scuderia’s new SF1000 lies a completely different beast to the 2019 car.
Speaking at the presentation of the new car, which appears visually similar to last year’s SF90, Binotto explained that the team’s design philosophy has been taken to a greater extreme than last year.
“It may look similar to last year’s, but it’s completely different.” he said. “We’ve been as extreme on the concept as we could, to look for the maximum aerodynamic performance first.”
Aerodynamics was a critical weakness for Ferrari in 2019, who otherwise enjoyed the benefit of huge straightline speed thanks to efforts on the engine side. But, at Formula 1’s more twisty circuits, the Ferrari generally lagged behind Mercedes’s W10 and Red Bull’s RB15.
“We’ve been trying to maximise the downforce level, so the car has been packaged to have a very narrow and slim body shape. That is quite visible.” Binotto said. “We have worked with all the components. The suspension has been designed to have more adaptability on track. We put in a lot of effort to keep the weight down.”
Sebastian Vettel commented on how he played ‘spot the difference’ when he first saw the 2020 car but said that a close inspection revealed the big changes compared to last season: “It’s an incredible achievement and a lot of hours that goes into the car. I like it a lot. We had the opportunity to see it before [the launch] and to have a direct comparison with last year’s car and you can really spot the differences. Especially when it comes to packaging and the back part of the car.”
“It’s also more red than last year!”
