This handout picture released by Ferrari press office on February 17, 2022 and taken at Ferrari headquarters in Maranello shows Ferrari’s drivers Charles Leclerc (left) and Carlos Sainz posing next to the new Ferrari F1-75 following its online official presentation. — Ferrari Press Office handout pic via AFP
MARANELLO, Feb 17 — Ferrari today took the wraps off the 2022 Formula One car that the sport’s oldest and most successful team hopes will return it to winning ways.
Designated the SF-75, to mark 75 years since founder Enzo Ferrari manufactured the first car to bear his name, the team’s 2022 contender has been designed to meet the radical new rules being introduced this year to improve wheel-to-wheel racing, and it sports a revised red-and-black livery.
“I have to tell you that we have definitely put our heart and soul into this car,” said team principal Mattia Binotto.
“I’d like the F1-75 to be up for the fight on track at every grand prix, to go toe-to-toe with our rivals aiming to be the very best.
“We have a responsibility to our company and to our partners, but most of all I’d like this car to perform in such a way that our fans can once again be proud of Ferrari,” the Italian added.
Ferrari bounced back from a dismal 2020 to finish third last season in the overall standings.
But they haven’t won a race for two seasons now, with their last triumph coming with Sebastian Vettel at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2019.
The team’s last drivers champion remains the now-retired Kimi Raikkonen, who took the title in 2007.
They go into the season, which begins in Bahrain on March 20, with an unchanged driver line-up of Monegasque Charles Leclerc and Spaniard Carlos Sainz. — Reuters