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Ferrari says its decision to give its 2019 Formula 1 car a matte red paint finish was taken purely for performance reasons.
The Italian outfit revealed a new darker matte livery at the launch of its SF90 at Maranello on Friday, having moved away from a traditional gloss finish.
Team principal Mattia Binotto said the move was inspired by a desire to reduce the car’s weight, as the matte finish weighs less.
“The reason is not aesthetic, but exclusively technical,” explained Binotto.
“Eliminating the shiny element gives us a few hundred grams, which may not sound like much, but when you push everything to the limit even this has an effect.”
Ferrari has followed the lead of Red Bull, which moved to a matte finish ahead of the 2016 season for weight saving reasons.
Reflecting on the wider car design, Binotto said “every” element has been improved or changed, even though the SF90 is a development of the concept on last year’s SF71H.
“It is clear that we pushed to improve every detail,” he said. “I think that there is not a single piece the same as 2018.
“Pushing it means to try to go beyond previous limits, and those that we have achieved, I think they are very close to the natural limits of the car.”