Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Recommended for you

F2 star Rafael Camara responds to 2027 Haas F1 rumours

Formula 1
F2 star Rafael Camara responds to 2027 Haas F1 rumours

F1 helmet signed by 20 drivers raises record six-figure sum for charity

Formula 1
F1 helmet signed by 20 drivers raises record six-figure sum for charity

Guenther Steiner questions Valtteri Bottas's motivation at Cadillac

Formula 1
Guenther Steiner questions Valtteri Bottas's motivation at Cadillac

Mika Hakkinen reveals doubts over F1 return after life-threatening crash in 1995

Formula 1
Mika Hakkinen reveals doubts over F1 return after life-threatening crash in 1995

KTM given green light to fix faulty MotoGP engine

MotoGP
British GP
KTM given green light to fix faulty MotoGP engine

How a Le Mans winner is changing the game for female racing in Japan

Feature
Super Formula
Feature
Sugo
How a Le Mans winner is changing the game for female racing in Japan

The Next Generation: Jak Crawford

Formula 1
The Next Generation: Jak Crawford

How WEC's Hypercar title fight is shaping up with revised 2026 calendar

WEC
How WEC's Hypercar title fight is shaping up with revised 2026 calendar
Analysis
Formula 1

Tech analysis: What’s new on the Ferrari SF1000

Ferrari’s SF1000 is the first car to be physically unveiled this year and affords us a look into the mindset of a team that quickly found itself adrift from the title fight last season, but is also mindful of the enormous challenge faced by the all-new car that must be designed for the 2021 regulations.

Matthew Somerfield
Edited:
Ferrari SF1000 detail

Giorgio Piola's F1 technical analysis

Giorgio Piola is the preeminent Formula 1 technical journalist. View our full selection of Giorgio's technical illustrative content

The car itself is not a massive departure from the one that came before it, but it’s clear that there’s not a single surface on the car that hasn’t been scrutinised, reworked and optimised to improve performance. Click on the images below to scroll through them…

Ferrari SF1000 detail
This is new: Viking horns, which are mounted on the side of the airbox.
Ferrari SF1000 front wing detail
The nose has been refined when we compare it with the design introduced in Singapore last season, with the snowplow under the nose much more pronounced, owing to a redesign on the nose tip. Meanwhile, the caped outer edges of the device have also been reprofiled to maximise their role in generating load at the front of the car.
Ferrari SF90, front wing comparison
For comparison, here's the solution introduced by Ferrari in Singapore last season.
Ferrari SF1000 detail
The turning vanes have been bought further forward too, with four elements, rather than three housed on the nose. The rearward section, mounted under the chassis, also features an extension of the footplate in order to improve their relationship.
Ferrari SF1000 bargeboard detail
Ferrari has once again maximised the height of the bargeboards, as at first glance the three sections at the front of the assembly appear to be higher than the regulations would permit.
Ferrari SF1000 sidepod detail
The bargeboards themselves are relatively conventional with multiple surfaces and slots ensuring they operate well over a range of angles, speeds and conditions. The boomerangs have been optimised further, with a thinner element deployed above the assembly's leading edge, while a chunkier one obliges at the rear. Both of these elements are contorted at their outermost point in order that they form the first part of the deflector array, which are also shaped to form a cluster of winglets around the floor's axehead.
Ferrari SF90, bargeboard
Here we can see last year's bargeboard design, which acts as a good comparison when viewing the new configuration.
Ferrari SF1000 side detail
Behind this we find the main three panels that make up the deflector array, the forwardmost two of which follow in the teams recent lineage of L-shaped appendages, whilst the upper panel has been simplified and detached from the upper sidepod slat.
Red Bull RB15 new bargeboard, Russian GP
Ordinarily arched down the slat follows a trend employed by Red Bull for the last few seasons, which likely creates a counter-rotating vortex to the one ordinarily found at the surface's outer tip. Its use of this sidepod slat has led to the team making similar changes to their overall sidepod bodywork geometry and once again sees the overall size of the inlet buried beneath the bodywork made smaller still.
Ferrari SF71H sidepods
The originators of the two-piece mirror trend, Ferrari had stepped back from this in recent years…
Ferrari SF1000 side detail
However, the SF1000 features a convoluted mirror stalk assembly and two-piece mirror setup once more.
Ferrari SF1000
From the side view it’s pretty clear to see that this year’s car has grown in length once more, the team using that as a way of repackaging the power unit, ancillaries and gearbox in order to reduce the overall width of the bodywork.
Ferrari SF1000 rear detail
This is further evidenced by the massive expanse at the rear of the floor into the coke bottle region, made possible by the tight, jelly mould-style sidepod packaging.
13

Read Also:

 

Share Or Save This Story

Previous article Ferrari: Vettel, not Hamilton, is "first choice" for 2021
Next article F1 set to abandon April date for Chinese GP

Top Comments
More from
Matthew Somerfield

Haas reveals its major F1 United States Grand Prix update

Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Haas reveals its major F1 United States Grand Prix update

British GP: F1 technical images from the pitlane explained

Formula 1
Formula 1
British GP
British GP: F1 technical images from the pitlane explained

Australian GP: F1 technical images from the pitlane explained

Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP: F1 technical images from the pitlane explained

Latest news

F2 star Rafael Camara responds to 2027 Haas F1 rumours

Formula 1
F2 star Rafael Camara responds to 2027 Haas F1 rumours

F1 helmet signed by 20 drivers raises record six-figure sum for charity

Formula 1
F1 helmet signed by 20 drivers raises record six-figure sum for charity

Guenther Steiner questions Valtteri Bottas's motivation at Cadillac

Formula 1
Guenther Steiner questions Valtteri Bottas's motivation at Cadillac

Mika Hakkinen reveals doubts over F1 return after life-threatening crash in 1995

Formula 1
Mika Hakkinen reveals doubts over F1 return after life-threatening crash in 1995

Feature

Discover prime content

Why Aston Martin is a better destination on the F1 driver market than it seems

Formula 1
By Ronald Vording
Why Aston Martin is a better destination on the F1 driver market than it seems

How the McLaren MP4/8B's engine blow-up changed F1 history

Formula 1
By Gary Watkins
How the McLaren MP4/8B's engine blow-up changed F1 history

The novelty of Cadillac is starting to wear off - but that's a compliment

Formula 1
By Filip Cleeren
The novelty of Cadillac is starting to wear off - but that's a compliment

Is the MP4/8B McLaren’s greatest what-might-have-been?

Formula 1
By Gary Watkins
Is the MP4/8B McLaren’s greatest what-might-have-been?
View more