Ferrari have released the new SF-70H car that will bring them through the 2017 F1 season.
The car introduced through a dramatic live video stream online, with team personnel surrounding the vehicle in silence while music accompanied a series of roaming shots of the vehicle.
Fans will hope the more substantial guideline changes this close season have supplied an opportunity for the Scuderia to close the performance gap to champions Mercedes, after seeing Ferrari suffer an extreme drop-off in form as the 2016 season advanced.
The design appears at first glimpse to be not comparable with the Mercedes, and far more in line with what other teams have provided so far – a prominent ‘shark-fin’ engine cover, with a dramatically angled front end total with a prolonged ‘stub’ nosecone.
The group have preserved stability on the driver front for 2017, as Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen – winners of five drivers’ titles between them – plan to use up the reins once again.
Raikkonen took the vehicle for a first shake-down run at the team’s private test track at Fiorano after the online introduction.
Ferrari’s latest championship success was in 2008, when they declared the constructors’ title, while Raikkonen is the last guy to have won a drivers’ crown for the team – now some 10 seasons earlier.
After several near-misses with Fernando Alonso at the wheel of a car that was rarely more than the second-best in the field, pressure to attain is magnifying behind the scenes at Maranello.
As the team’s 2016 campaign deciphered, team boss Maurizio Arrivabene presumed a difficult stance towards his lead driver Vettel, stating that everyone needed to earn their place in the team.
