Ferrari to complete Fiorano F1 demo event with new F1-75 car

Ferrari launched its new car for the 2022 season on Thursday, featuring a radical design under the revised technical regulations and a new red and black livery.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are set to enjoy their first extended running in the F1-75 car when pre-season testing begins at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 23 February, one month before the new season gets underway in Bahrain.

But Ferrari is planning to give the F1-75 its first run on Friday by completing a demonstration event at Fiorano.

“We will have a first demo event tomorrow at Fiorano,” said team principal Mattia Binotto when asked by Motorsport.com about shakedown plans for the F1-75.

“It will only be 15km per the regulations, not on the normal track. That’s for a demo purpose. That will happen tomorrow.

“And then we will move to Barcelona, and the day before each team will start the winter session, so the 22nd, we will have a filming day, 100km.

“So from now to the start of the winter testing, we’ll have a couple of days, a demo event and a filming day where we’ll run the car.”

Ferrari F1-75

Photo by: Ferrari

Under the sporting regulations, teams are permitted two Demonstration Events per year that are 15km long and cannot be on an approved circuit for F1 cars, hence the revised layout that will be used at Fiorano.

“No such demonstrations may take place on track configurations currently approved for use by Formula 1 cars nor exceed 15km in length, and only tyres manufactured specifically for this purpose by the appointed supplier may be used,” reads Article 8.1.3 of the sporting regulations.

Ferrari previously used a demonstration event to complete a run-out with its car back in 2020, when Leclerc drove the SF1000 on the streets of Maranello.

The Barcelona filming day will be limited to 100km and serve as a more thorough shakedown before the start of testing, which runs from 23-25 February.

This will be followed by a second pre-season test in Bahrain from 10-12 March ahead of the opening race of the year at the Bahrain International Circuit on 20 March.

Binotto felt there would be plenty for Ferrari to learn in testing as it understands the new car and new regulations, meaning there were no big upgrades planned immediately for the F1-75.

“At the very start, there will be a lot of lap time to be found in the way that we are learning and we are exploiting the performance of the car,” said Binotto.

“I’m expecting that is even going to take a few races. I don’t think that will be to the best of the potential of the car in a single test. For us, we will start to consolidate and keep the package for the start of the season. It means the first and second test.

“We may have a few developments, but not huge because I think at the very start again, it will be a matter of mapping, understanding, learning, and finally exploiting the potential of the car.”