Ferrari's new matte paint a performance benefit
Ferrari says its decision to switch to a matte red paint finish this year has been done for pure performance reasons.
At the launch of its new SF90 at Maranello on Friday, the Italian outfit revealed a new darker matte colour, having moved away from its traditional gloss finish.
But rather than this having been done to simply make the car look better, team principal Mattia Binotto says that the inspiration for the move was to help reduce the car 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 grammes, which may not sound like much, but when you push everything to the limit even this has an effect."
Ferrari is not the only team to change its paint scheme for a laptime gain, with Red Bull having famously moved to a matte finish in 2016 for weight saving reasons.
The team also has a unique way of painting its car to ensure a totally smooth surface that minimises the chances of any drag from sponsor logos.
Reflecting on the wider car design, Binotto says that every element of the car has been improved or changed – even though the car is a development of last year's concept.
"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.
"Push 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."
Share Or Save This Story
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Lewis Hamilton "entirely justified" in tense Dutch GP radio exchange, says Alex Brundle
What Ferrari actually meant to do when Lewis Hamilton felt like a "guinea pig"
Why Charles Leclerc’s battle of the brakes has left him trailing Lewis Hamilton
41 NASCAR Cup cars on Daytona entry list with five open teams
Kyle Petty thinks the NASCAR season has one more big twist coming
Shane van Gisbergen laments sudden loss of pace after leading: "We are missing something"
Carson Hocevar shares surprisingly thoughtful note on 2026 season
Lando Norris made his own life difficult again - but his recovery was stunning in Zandvoort's swansong
Why Lando Norris was “surprised” to claim Dutch GP pole position
What we learned from the 2026 F1 Dutch GP sprint race and qualifying
Why Williams problems are worse than previously known
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments