Analysis SF21: Ferrari presents the most updated car of all teams

Binotto already confirmed Ferrari have changed quite a lot compared to last season. That's no lie, as the SF21 has undergone quite a few changes from the SF1000 in 2020 compared to what the competition has presented so far.

Concerning the livery we can be brief: The Mission Winnow logo is now green and the rear of the car is dark red. These are actually bigger changes than you would expect from Ferrari. For the rest the livery is almost identical.

Ferrari goes for aerodynamic efficiency

This makes it extra easy to spot the differences with last year. The nose for example has been given a different shape. The change is less radical than with customer team Alfa Romeo, but also with Ferrari, the nose is now slightly more pointed and the attachment points of the front wing are closer together.

Looking at the wing, the elements are slightly flatter than last year. This might be due to the setup with which the car is presented, but the elements are also a bit smaller. This would fit with Mattia Binotto 's philosophy of aerodynamic efficiency. Perhaps they hope to regain some of the lost speed, without losing too much downforce.

Further up in the front view, we see that Ferrari has added several aerodynamic details. For example, small nose wings have appeared that we also know from Mercedes and on the wings above the side pods extra guides have been added. All meant to guide the air around the cockpit with as little resistance as possible.

Adjustments to the power source also visible from the outside

The biggest adjustments can be seen with the air intakes. The shape of the air inlet has been altered considerably for both the brakes and the engine. Especially with the engine, it is noticeable that the air intakes in the side pods have become smaller, while the one behind the driver's head has become larger.

At the beginning of January, it was announced that Ferrari has revised their engine for 2021. Amongst others, a new cooling system should reduce drag. This is certainly reflected in the design and so the promise that Ferrari will no longer have the slowest engine could well be true.

All-new airflow on both sides of the car

In the side view, fewer changes are noticeable, but again you can see that Ferrari has not been sitting still this winter. The bargeboards have a significantly different structure. This is a logical consequence of the changes made to the nose, which leads the air in a different path around the sidepods.

In the view from the front, we can also see that the guides under the nose have changed completely. Last year there were still a series of slots in the nose and although these are allowed in the regulations for 2021, Ferrari has completely closed them. Probably again with the intention to get the drag coefficient as low as possible.

Behind the cockpit, we can see the changes that each team has made for 2021. The part of the floor has been cut away and the bonnet has been folded a bit tighter around the engine. 

In contrast to many other teams, Ferrari also have a new rear wing. Not only the wing endplate has a different structure, but also the lower element of the rear wing is slightly lowered where it was straight last year. We don't get to see the new diffuser on the Scuderia either, but they didn't do that in 2020 either, so that's nothing new in itself.

All in all, despite the largely unchanged livery, we can say that the SF21 might be the most 'new' car of 2021. Some of the other teams, like Red Bull Racing, probably haven't shown the back of their tongues yet, but for now it looks like we can expect progress from the Italians in 2021.