Watch: Ferrari learn lessons from last season’s failure as new car unveiled

Ferrari have “learned the lessons” of the Italian Formula One stable’s worst season in 40 years, team president John Elkann said Wednesday at the unveiling of the SF21 car for the 2021 campaign.

At the launch in Maranello Elkann said that “2020 is behind us but won’t be forgotten and will have made us stronger”.

Racing director Laurent Mekies agreed that “2021 is about the lessons learned in an incredibly difficult 2020 campaign.

“The last season has put us to the test both on track and at the factory. 

“We have tried to learn from our mistakes and to improve in the areas where we were simply not strong enough. 

“Of course, in context of frozen technical regulations and new financial regulations, there is a limit to how fast we can turn things around but nevertheless, we are trying to reconstruct our way back to the more competitive side of the grid.”

Ferrari placed sixth in the constructors standings last season, 442 points behind champions Mercedes. 

Drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr will be behind the wheel of the new SF21 on Thursday before winter testing in Bahrain ahead of the first Grand Prix of the season in Sakhir on March 28.

The SF21, sporting a new engine, is an evolution of last year’s SF1000, as dictated by the regulations, which require the use of the same chassis as in 2020 and so limiting the opportunities for change in many areas. 

The rear is reminiscent of the burgundy red of the very first Ferrari, but as it moves gradually towards the cockpit area, the colour transforms into the modern red, with a touch of green on the bonnet.