Ferrari, F1's most successful team but looking for first title in over a decade, will reveal their 2022 challenger on February 17; new rules and cars gives Ferrari a chance to leap back into contention this season; McLaren to unveil their 2022 challenger on February 11
Monday 17 January 2022 20:36, UK
Ferrari have revealed the launch date for the F1 car thy hope will propel them back into race and title-winning contention in 2022.
F1's most successful and historic team, becoming the second outfit to confirm their unveiling, will debut their all-new challenger a week after Aston Martin on February 17. Pre-season testing begins on February 23.
The team have not yet disclosed how they will reveal their hotly-anticipated car.
While Ferrari are without a title in over a decade in famous red, they remain one of the sport's biggest draws and will be one of the major storylines to start a season that welcomes much-changed new rules and cars.
The Scuderia, after a much-improved 2021 season as they beat McLaren to third, have aspirations of returning back to the front and have been focusing their efforts on the regulations longer than most.
"If I look at the 2022 car, and the 2022 power unit, believe me there is a lot of innovation in it," Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto said at the end of last year, looking forward to a potential reset of the competitive order.
"I think that the way that the entire engineering team has faced the new design, the new project, and the 2022 regulations, which were a big discontinuity, was certainly with a more open mind than before.
"I can myself measure it by looking at the car itself, the way it's progressing, and certainly with the amount of innovation we put in it."
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are the drivers this year after a successful first year as team-mates in 2021.
Sainz, who replaced Sebastian Vettel in the car, beat the highly-rated Leclerc in his debut season and both would be viable drivers' title contenders if Ferrari do ace the new rules.
The 2022 cars herald one of the biggest F1 rule changes in history, with overhauled aerodynamics set to lead to closer and more exciting racing.
The new season begins on March 20 in Bahrain.
It has also been confirmed that the new McLaren MCL36 will be launched on Friday February 11 live from the McLaren Technology Centre in association with Sky Sports F1.
The McLaren team finished the 2021 season fourth in the Constructors' Championship behind the driving of Lando Norris, who recorded four podiums and a maiden pole position, and Daniel Ricciardo, who clinched victory ahead of his teammate at the Italian GP.
Ted Kravitz
"I'm hearing a lot of positive noises out of Ferrari.
"The engine's going well and they say the car is looking much more aggressive than it has in any of the recent Ferraris we've seen over the last two or three years."
Karun Chandhok
"I had a couple of conversations with people just before Christmas and they were very optimistic because they feel they made big gains on the power-unit side," said the former F1 racer.
"They are coming back not quite on a par with Honda and Mercedes, but not a million miles behind and they are confident that side of it will be okay.
"On the chassis side they have been able to focus a lot of resource throughout last season because they haven't been in a championship fight, unlike Mercedes and Red Bull, so they are very optimistic they will be in the fight come the start of the season."
