There is no glossing over the fact that Ferrari had a horrible 2020 Formula 1 season. The FIA directives issued in response to their engine power in 2019 hurt them badly, and that year's SF1000 was a truly terrible car that was only able to take three podium finishes in the entirety of that 17 race season. The 2021 season then was all about rebuilding, and it was able to leap from 6th to 3rd in the world constructors' championship. New signing Carlos Sainz took four podiums, while Charles Leclerc took pole position in Monaco and Baku and nearly won the British Grand Prix.
The 2022 season has brought along new rules and regulations, and with it some dramatically different looking cars. And it is Ferrari who perhaps have the most dramatic looking of all as the new F1-75 is certainly a striking looking machine, one that is certainly one of the most aggressive looking cars on the grid. Leclerc and Sainz are back behind the wheel once again, and Ferrari must return to winning ways in 2022. For a team that hasn’t won a world title since 2008, it has to hit the ground running from Bahrain onwards.
The Recovery Of 2021
The 2020 season was simply a disaster for Ferrari. Whatever the investigation into its 2019 power unit found, the 2020 engine was severely down on power after the FIA tightened fuel flow provisions. Some analysis projected it had lost some 65 hp compared to the previous season, and it did not help that the SF1000 was hardly the best chassis that Maranello had produced. This meant Ferrari spent a year firmly in the midfield, as Sebastian Vettel moved to Aston Martin to be replaced by Carlos Sainz.
The Sainz move was a curious one, as he had left a McLaren team that was on the up to a Ferrari team that looked to be floundering. But the 2021 season was much better for Ferrari. Five podiums and a couple of pole positions took it to third in the championship, and a new hybrid system introduced at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix certainly seemed to provide a boost to the team. Despite things being totally reset for 2022, there was a belief that Ferrari could be one of the leading teams for the following season, not least because most of 2021 was spent focussing on the 2022 car.
Ferrari’s Radical F1-75
Ferrari’s new and radical F1-75 caught everyone’s eye when it was launched, and continues to do so during F1’s pre-season testing. The livery was a big talking point, with the red and black harking back to the 1990s. But that isn’t all that grabbed peoples eyes. A radical front nose section is on the F1-75, with what the team calls a modular nose concept. This is something that has not been seen in Formula 1 before. The design is split into two separate elements, a structural element towards the main chassis with a separate profile running towards the front wing.
Then there are the sidepods. The sidepods have a dimple in the middle and are incredibly aggressively sculpted, as well as featuring gills for cooling across the top. The sidepods look to be sculptured to form a curved edge, helping to direct the airflow towards the rear beam wing. Only the massively undercut sidepods on the Red Bull RB18 rival the F1-75 in terms of aggression and its radicality. Ferrari have also gone to town on its power unit, and so far, the signs are promising with the car looking very reliable out on track.
Getting Back To Winning Ways
Ferrari is hoping this car can return it to the top. And it must do so. It has not won a race since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. It hasn’t won a constructors world title since 2008, and its last drivers title was in 2007 with the now retired Kimi Raikkonen. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff thinks Ferrari could be a couple of months ahead of the pack with its car after focussing on it for more of the 2021 season than Mercedes and title rival Red Bull did. And all the signs coming from Ferrari are so far very encouraging.
Ferrari: A Team That Just Has To Win
Ferrari just has to win races again this season. There is no sugar coating it. Two winless seasons have hurt it badly, and it hasn’t looked like a genuine title contender since 2018. There can be no excuse on the drivers now either, with Sainz and Leclerc possibly the best driver lineup on the grid right now. This is a big year for Ferrari, because if it starts the year with an advantage over the field, that could prove crucial in the dawn of this new era for Formula 1. This is an important year for Scuderia Ferrari.
Sources: Scuderia Ferrari, Race Car Engineering, Formula 1