There are still no dates when the new Formula 1 cars for 2022 will be presented to the public. Ferrari is now the first team to advance and has at least given a rough framework.
“The car will be presented in mid-February,” announced team boss Mattia Binotto at the annual Christmas event.
The Italian cannot yet provide an exact date, as that has not yet been decided. “It will be somewhere between February 16-18, but we’ll fix that in the next few weeks,” he says.
The new name of the car has not yet been determined either and is also difficult to predict. Because while other teams have a strict counting method, their predecessors were called SF21, SF1000, SF90 and SF71H.
With the car for 2022, the Scuderia is planning to attack the top again. According to Binotto, everything is currently going “according to plan”, even if the team has no references from other teams. “That’s the hardest part, because we don’t have a guideline as to what the others are doing,” he says. “But it is important for me to know that we will achieve our own goals and that everything is going according to plan.”
“We know that the rule changes represent a great opportunity, also for us,” said the team boss. “We have had a budget limit since 2021, which is becoming even tighter. That is also a great challenge. But I have to say that the team is well organized and, in my opinion, is working hard.”
No more Mission Winnow
One change is already certain: The title sponsorship of Mission Winnow, a campaign by long-term partner Philip Morris International (PMI), will be ended.
Binotto had previously announced that it is unlikely that there will be a continuation of the Mission Winnow deal. However, there are talks about how the partnership with PMI will look in the future.
“I think there are many ways to work with them and keep them as partners,” said Binotto. “We have a few options on the table right now and we are still talking to them. Hopefully they will continue to be a strong partner.”
“But it will be a few more days and a few more weeks. At the moment there isn’t much I can announce.”
Santander is coming back
On Tuesday, Ferrari announced the comeback of a previous main sponsor. The Spanish bank Santander will return to the team after four years and become a so-called “premium sponsor”. Logos will adorn the car and clothing, among other things, and they want to help become CO2-neutral by 2030.
Santander was already in Formula 1 at McLaren and Ferrari from 2007 to 2017 and was mainly linked to Fernando Alonso. With Carlos Sainz, another Spaniard is currently driving for the Scuderia from Maranello.
“It is an honor to work again with a global financial institution like Santander that is committed to responsible banking and renewable energy finance […] has taken a leadership role worldwide, “says Ferrari President John Elkann.
“We look forward to working with Santander to achieve our main goal of becoming climate neutral by 2030. We believe that Formula 1, with its innovations and technological developments, will benefit our industry and ultimately society as a whole.”
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