Ferrari recently announced their plans to launch the new 2019 F1 car, currently codenamed 670, on February 15. Maurizio Arrivabene, the team principal, revealed the exciting news at the Caschi d’oro Autosprint award ceremony on Thursday evening, at Garage Italia in Milan, Italy.
The awaited unveiling of their new car will happen three days before the pre-season testing is set to start at the Barcelona circuit in Spain.
Ferrari usually holds a traditional Christmas lunch for the F1 journalists, but this year Arrivabene decided to take advantage of the very prestigious event of Conti Editore as the time and place to reveal the news. “The group led by [technical director] Mattia Binotto has been working on next year’s single-seater for months now,” said the team principal, accompanied by his new driver Charles Leclerc.
“The engines are already running on the test benches and there are parts of the car that are already in production. The parts more related to the performance will arrive at the last moment, even if the tension increases because the time is less and less. On February 15 we will present the car and everything must be ready for that day.”
“Of course it is early to give an overall picture of the car. Simulations are being done and we are working on the simulator, but the real test bench is only the track. That’s where you confront yourself, comparing the data you’ve collected during the winter period, and especially where you confront yourself with others. The technicians are working hard to complete the car by February 15. We have some information from the guys who work on the simulator, but it’s still too early to talk about performance.”
Ferrari is now the first F1 team which revealed when to expect their new monster that will try to give them the championship in 2019. Although they lost to Mercedes despite having a great car in 2018, a season that featured a late-season slump without a win after the Belgian Grand Prix.
Mercedes chief of motorsport Toto Wolff gave an update recently on the 2019 design. He said that early goals for the engine performance are not yet met. Ferrari seems to be winning the design race at the moment.
