These changes have been made to create the new Ferrari SF21

After a disastrous 2020 F1 season, Ferrari will be looking to bounce back through the midfield during the 2021 season with the newly launched SF21. The Italian team finished sixth-place last season, and any sudden fightback will be made tricky with little regulation changes through the winter.  

On Wednesday afternoon, Ferrari launched their 2021 F1 challenger. Enrico Cardile, the Chassis Director, has spoken about the changes they've made to the Ferrari car. 

"When we tackled the project for the new SF21, we had to choose right away which part of the car we'd give our attention to, make a radical change. We chose the posterior creating a new transmission and new suspension. This, along with the work done by our power unit engineers, give us a much more tapered rear end compared to the SF1000. We also went over the cooling system. We increased the authority of the central radiator and designed a more down-washing bodywork," Cardile said. 

Regulation changes

In 2022, the rule and regulation book will be republished. Though little changes have been made during the current winter ahead of the season opener later this month. Cardile goes on to discuss further changes which occurred due to the changes this season. 

"Aerodynamics was one of the areas impacted by the changed regulations intended to reduce the capacity of developing vertical downforce making sure the tyres remain intact. This is why, when we started working on the car's aerodynamics, we gave ourselves two objectives: on the one, increasing the aerodynamic charge lost due to the regulations, and on the other reducing drag," he added in the official launch video from Ferrari.

"The changes to the front part of the car were less radical due to the regulations. So we developed a new front wing that works coupled with a newly conceived nose, but the chassis and the two suspensions are the same as the SF1000. These challenges certainly do not frighten us. We'll face them as always, united with our feet on the ground, conscious that we'll have to work a lot, and well to honour the name we represent."