FIRST LOOK: Ferrari unveil hotly-anticipated SF21 – with splash of green on traditional red livery

Ferrari have pulled back the covers on the car that they hope will take them back to the front of the pack in 2021: the SF21.

The car, which will see action in 2021 in the hands of the Scuderia’s refreshed line-up of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, will be tasked with restoring pride to Maranello, after Ferrari endured their worst season since 1980 last year, finishing sixth in the constructors’ standings, behind teams such as McLaren, Renault and Racing Point.

READ MORE: 2020 disappointments ‘cannot be repeated’ says Binotto as Ferrari launch 2021 season

At the Ferrari team launch on February 26 – where new boy Sainz was officially presented alongside Leclerc – Team Principal Mattia Binotto said that the SF21, which will feature Ferrari’s new 066 power unit, already appeared to have “recovered quite a lot of speed on the straights” compared to its SF1000 predecessor.

That will give hope to Ferrari that 2021 could see them competing for their first pole since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix – and their first win since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.

The car is of course decked out in Ferrari's traditional red, but not so traditional is the green Mission Winnow logo on the engine cover, behind the cockpit. The red itself also blends into more of a burgundy at the rear.

Following the car’s launch, the SF21 will get its first laps in anger at the Bahrain International Circuit when pre-season testing commences on March 12-14, following a shakedown run on Thursday.

The SF21, meanwhile, is the penultimate car to be officially launched in 2021, with only Ferrari customer team Haas still to reveal their machine for this season, the VF-21, which is due to break cover on Friday morning, before testing gets under way.