Ferrari won’t ‘give up’ on 2020 to focus on ’21

Ferrari will not stop its 2020 car developments to focus on 2021 even if Mercedes again glide to an eight-race winning streak, says CEO Louis Camilleri.

Last season Mercedes dominated the opening half of the championship, starting the season with eight consecutive wins.

Ferrari tried to close the gap, developing the SF90 and its power unit and eventually putting in a short streak of their own.

Charles Leclerc claimed the wins in Belgium and Italy before Sebastian Vettel added Singapore to Ferrari’s tally.

This year, however, is the last year under the current regulations, raising questions about whether Ferrari would give up on 2020 if the team fails to match Mercedes early on.

Camilleri says no.

“We never give up and our ambition is to win,” he said during Ferrari’s full year 2019 results conference call.

“And therefore, I don’t think we’ll put our foot off the pedal in terms of Formula 1 in 2020 or beyond.”

Camilleri acknowledged that 2020 will be a big year of spending for Ferrari as they throw money at the 2021 regulations.

Formula 1 is moving to ground effect aerodynamics next season meaning the 2021 cars will be completely different beasts to this year’s models.

“In terms of Formula 1, in 2020 was sort of doubling up because we have to work on a totally brand new car as opposed to developing one,” he said.

“The new technical regulations that will come into force in 2021 will entail the development of our very substantially different car, which will obviously require additional resources and expenditures already this year.

“So, you should assume that in 2021 and thereafter, the Formula 1 cars should come down, not least of which because of the budget cap for a big portion of the car itself.”

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