Formula 1 team Ferrari on Friday launched their new car, the SF90, which the Italian manufacturer hopes will end their decade-long title drought to mark the team’s 90th anniversary.
With a new driver line-up of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, change was in the air at the official presentation of the new car at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track, just outside Maranello.
“I’m not dressed for, so I cannot jump in and start flying. But it’s soon, I’m impatient,” joked the German Vettel after discovering the new red car.
“We’re all excited. You start to see the car, little bits of it at the end of last year and then you see it come together but today is the first time you see it. I’m very excited – it’s incredible to see when everything gets together. Now I’m excited, I can’t wait to get in.” added Vettel.
The four-time world champion will drive next season alongside the young driver Leclerc and will aim to bring back a title in Italy.
Should the new axis of Vettel, Leclerc and Binotto combine in 2019 to raise Ferrari’s performance to a new level, their rivals should be worried too, after the Scuderia enjoyed a strong 2018 which saw them convincingly outshine Mercedes at a number of circuits – although ultimately, their performance fell just shy of toppling the Silver Arrows.
“Starting in 2018, we got really good achievements. This car is a development of last year’s car, it’s not a revolution. We’ve tried to push the bar, try to be some extreme as we could” said new Ferrari boss Mattia Binoto.
“Some changes like the front wing for the regulations. If you look at the details, we’ve tried to push hard, be innovative. If you look at the bodywork at the back, it’s very slim. It’s thanks to the entire job we’ve done. A lot of effort has been done. We like it.
“To be Ferrari is something unique. We are unique. Being Ferrari is passion, determination, sense of belonging, courage, excellence. We could continue this list to infinity,” added Binotto.
Mattia Binotto (left) replaces Maurizio Arrivabene at Ferrari. (Source:www.skysports.com)
Ferrari team are under new leadership with Binotto replacing Maurizio Arrivabene as team principal. Arrivabene had been boss of the team since December 2014, joining from main sponsor, the tobacco giant Philip Morris, where he was a vice-president.
