Ferrari will unveil their 2022 car, which they hope will allow them to close the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull, on 17 February.
The Scuderia’s 2022 challenger will therefore be unveiled less than a week before pre-season testing, which will get underway on 23 February.
The oldest and most successful team in Formula 1 have claimed 31 championships in their decorated history, but have not won a race since Sebastian Vettel’s victory at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.
Ferrari have been working hard on developing their power unit over the last few months, with them introducing a new engine at last season’s Russian Grand Prix.
The improved power unit led Carlos Sainz to two podium finishes, and the Spaniard scored points in every race since he began running the new and improved engine.
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McLaren driver Lando Norris has previously suggested that the engine has been the only department letting Ferrari down in recent years, but this is said to have been massively improved ahead of 2022.
Together with Shell, the Scuderia have developed a fuel solution made up of 90 percent fossil fuels and 10 percent ethanol – as part of Formula 1’s push for positive environmental change.
And, as a result of this new fuel blend, they are said to have recovered the 20 horsepower deficit that comes with next season’s engine specification.
Team principal Mattia Binotto reckons the work done by the team in preparation for the new year has been pioneering.
“If I look at the 2022 car, and the 2022 power unit, believe me there is a lot of innovation in it,” he told reporters at the end of last year.
“I think that the way that the entire engineering team has faced the new design, the new project, and the 2022 regulations, which were a big discontinuity, was certainly with a more open mind than before.”
The Italian is proud of the Scuderia’s efforts, adding that the new regulations introduced this year forced the team to adopt a completely new approach.
“I can myself measure it by looking at the car itself, the way it’s progressing, and certainly with the amount of innovation we put in it,” added the 52-year-old.
“I think that the way that the entire engineering team has faced the new design, the new project, and the 2022 regulations, which were a big discontinuity, was certainly with a more open mind than before.
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“Pushing means, within the power unit department, it has been a lot of effort in terms of resources, in terms of design but, as well, in terms of innovations,” Binotto added.
The Maranello-based outfit beat McLaren to third in the Constructors’ Championship in 2021, but racing director Laurent Mekies has insisted that this did not distract them from their 2022 package.
Carlos Sainz ended the season fifth in the Drivers’ Championship, beating Monegasque team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished in P7, in his debut year with the team.
Aston Martin are the only other team thus far to name a date for their car release, with the Silverstone-based outfit scheduled to unveil their challenger on 10 February – one week before Ferrari.
The 2022 season will get underway on 20 March in Bahrain.
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