Ferrari promises to have new car ready for first test

Dec 15, 2011 (F1plus Team).- Ferrari will roll out its 2012 car at the earliest possible point next year, ensuring as much development time as possible as the Italian team adopts a new approach. The team believes it will be ready for the first test at Jerez on February 7.

Traditionally, Ferrari is the first to unveil its new car each year, and they still plan on doing so despite new regulations that state the cars must have passed all FIA crash tests and homologation before testing. The news comes after Mercedes announced it would wait until the second test to run its new car, while Red Bull is also aiming for the first test.

The Scuderia is yet to win any title since 2008, when Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen’s lifted the Constructors’ crown. Over the past three seasons, it has managed overall championship results of one fourth and a pair of third places.

“We shall launch the new car in early February before using it for the first pre-season test,” Luca Colajanni, head of communications at Ferrari, told Autosprint.

“The programme will be very different because we aim to win, so there has been a change of attitude inside the team; but at the moment there is no point saying the project will be extreme.”

Pre-season testing for 2012 begins in Jerez, Spain on Tuesday 7 February.