Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has confirmed his team has already begun construction on its 2022 Formula 1 chassis.
While a number of aspects surrounding the final design are still to be finalised, the team in Maranello has commenced with the work of making the tub for next year’s machine.
Sweeping new regulations have seen teams increase focus on development for 2022 as ground effect returns to the sport for the first time in four decades.
Cars will also take on a new look, with an example unveiled to the world over the course of the British Grand Prix weekend.
“2022 is progressing,” Binotto confirmed.
“That’s the time when normally you are facing the chassis geometries, and the entire concept of the car; suspension layout, cooling layout.
“The concept is certainly a lot advanced, and while the concept is frozen, chassis somehow is already in production.
“It’s time really to continue working on the body shape, on the aerodynamics, wings, bodywork, etc.”
Ferrari is also planning on boasting a brand-new power unit for next year, in addition to the upgrades it is poised to introduce in the latter stages of 2021.
The Scuderia’s performance last season was widely viewed as a result of a sub-par power unit, a flow on from a technical directive issued by the FIA midway through the 2019 season.
A revised power unit this year, which had the flow on of affording an aerodynamic tweak at the rear of the car, has seen the squad return to form.
This year’s power unit is expected to receive a boost in the region of 15bhp when an upgrade to hybrid aspects of the unit are introduced at a yet-to-be-confirmed event later this season.
Knowledge from that development will then flow into next year’s design, a critical project as power units are set to be frozen until new regulations come into play in 2026.
“We are working a lot on the power unit,” Binotto said in reference to 2022.
“[The] Power unit next year will be brand new in terms of concept and design.
“The objective is really try to catch that disadvantage, to close it.
“That’s why you’re seeing from now on the engine, we are working very hard.
“That is a key moment, where not only you need to find obviously performance, but to start fully homologate the reliability of the product for the next season.”
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