Ferrari aims to hit its straps again with F1-75 challenger

Ferrari are aiming for a return to competitiveness in 2022, with their F1-75 challenger unveiled on Thursday carrying the weight of history and expectation for the sport's oldest and most successful team.

The Maranello-based squad have raced in every season of Formula One since the championship was founded in 1950 and have won more races and championships than anyone.

They have crowned some of the sport's greats including Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari, Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher. But their last champion remains now-retired Kimi Raikkonen who won the title in 2007.

Last year the team, despite bouncing back from a dismal 2020 to take third in the constructors' standings, went without a win for the second consecutive season.

“Our objective for 2022 certainly is being back to being competitive and being competitive means being capable of winning races,” team principal Mattia Binotto told reporters after the car's launch on Thursday.

“That's the way we see it and I think we will be happy if we will be in that position.”

Formula One is introducing its biggest rules shakeup in decades, with cars featuring revised aerodynamics and bigger 18-inch wheels aimed at improving the racing spectacle.

The new rules could shake up the established order and Ferrari, who unveiled a stunning new car done up in a red-and-black livery in a throwback to the past, are clearly eyeing this season as an opportunity.

The word “innovation” was repeatedly used during the launch of the challenger, designated the F1-75 to mark 75 years since founder Enzo Ferrari manufactured the first car to bear his name.

The new rules are a step into the unknown. But, despite the uncertainty, Binotto and the team's drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, said the team's efforts in developing the car gives them confidence.

“Of course expectations are high because we are Ferrari, we are the team that is expected to win all the time,” said Leclerc heading into his fourth season as a Ferrari driver.

“What makes me confident about this year's car is the work that I've seen in the past few months.

“It's never easy to know until you're really on track for the first qualifying of the year and see the final picture, but the feeling is good.”

Reuters