‘Extreme’ 2020 Ferrari “completely different” to SF90 - Binotto

Ferrari’s 2020 Formula 1 car design is “extreme” in its nature and “completely different” to its predecessor, according to team boss Mattia Binotto.

The Scuderia became the first F1 team to present its newest car, the SF1000, in a special launch event at the Romolo Valli Municipal Theatre in Reggio Emilia near its Maranello headquarters on Tuesday evening.

Speaking at the launch, Binotto explained the key differences between its latest challenger and its fast but inconsistent 2019 SF90 challenger.

“Certainly the regulations remain stable, so it’s difficult to transform completely the car,” Binotto said.

“The starting point of the car goes on from last year, the SF90, but certainly we have been extreme with the concept as much as we could.

“We develop the car and try to look for the maximum out of performance, trying to maximise the downforce level, so the entire car, the monocoque, the power unit layout, the gearbox has been packaged to have a very narrow and slim body shape, which is quite visible.

“We worked on all the components,” he added. “The suspension is designed to have greater flexibility when on the race track for the set up and trying to adapt the set up to whatever best suits the two drivers at 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 worked on each single component to first improve performance but to improve as well, with the change of technical regulations, where the oil consumption will be reduced by 50 percent.

“So it may look very similar to last year but believe me it is completely different to the one of last year. And a lot of concepts are very extreme on the car.”

Binotto stressed his side must learn from its “weak points” from 2019, which included inconsistent performance and reliability.

“It’s the result of great work, commitment, sacrifice, and sometimes difficulties and challenges,” he explained.

"We still have to grow and learn from our mistakes, we have to capitalise on this and concentrate on reliability, which was one of our weak points last season.”

Sebastian Vettel, who enters his sixth campaign with Ferrari in 2020, said Ferrari has found some “clever solutions” with its latest design.

“It’s an incredible achievement with all the hours that go into the car. I like it a lot,” he said.

"We have an opportunity to see it a little bit more and having a direct comparison to last year’s car, you can really spot the differences, especially when it comes to packaging and the back part of the car.

“I think it sits a lot tighter and 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 that and I cannot wait to drive it.

“It’s also a little bit more red compared to last year so I think it looks great.”