Reggio Emilia (Italy) (AFP)

Present since the beginnings of Formula One, Ferrari presented Tuesday in Reggio Emilia (northern Italy) its new single-seater, the SF1000, as the number of Grand Prix contested that will reach this season the Italian team.

"This is a very special year. These are the 70 years of F1, we have been there from the start and we are going to reach the figure of 1000 Grands Prix, which is something incredible," said Mattia Binotto, the "main team" of the team.

For the occasion, the scuderia broke with its habits and presented its new racing car outside of its stronghold of Maranello, on the stage of the Romolo Valli theater in Reggio Emilia.

"This is a very important place for our country. It is in this city that the tricolor, which became that of Italy, was created. And Ferrari is proud of Italy and of representing Italy", said John Elkann, president of the Ferrari group.

Narrower than the SF90 of last season, also of a deeper red, the SF1000 should allow the scuderia to believe in a title that has eluded it for a long time, 12 years for the pilots and 11 years for the manufacturers.

"Maybe it looks a lot like the SF90, but I can assure you it is very different," said Binotti.

"We still have to progress, especially on reliability," he added, recalling that Ferrari, like the other teams, had to face "the double challenge" of preparing the next season in parallel but also the next one, which will see the entry into force of the new regulation.

The two drivers of the team, the German Sebastian Vettel and the Monegasque Charles Leclerc, for their part said their impatience to drive their new car, which will be on track next week for the pre-season tests in Barcelona.

"I like it very much. It is much narrower at the rear than last year and it is also redder, it is even better. I am impatient to drive it, it is even more fascinating than look, "said Vettel.

"Now I know the team, the car, the people," said Leclerc, author of last season's spectacular debut for the nose-up firm (two wins and 4th in the world championship).

"It's going to be a great challenge. I'm ready to learn from my mistakes to become an even better driver," he added.

© 2020 AFP