Ferrari announce launch date of their 2017 car

Ferrari have become the first team to reveal the launch date of their 2017 Formula One car.

The Scuderia's new machine will be officially unveiled on February 24 at their private Fiorano test circuit, with the team having scheduled two filming days over which to run their car.

With pre-season testing due to start on on February 27-March 2, it means Ferrari will reveal their as-yet unnamed car just three days before the teams all gather in Barcelona.

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne believes the team's restructuring efforts in 2016 will have an impact next year, saying: "We have restructured and I prefer to look to the future in a different way.

"I don’t regret the choices made, they were well thought out. The team is giving its all and has a great will to win.

"There are still many things missing, but the team is the team and it was put in place over a period of years and we’re not about to change it now. Our working practice is already different to what it was back in August, which is when Mattia Binotto took over the reins.

"The organisational change was also partly made to bring some calm. Put in the work and the results will come."

Binotto, Ferrari's chief technical officer, added: "There are so many changes to the rules relating to aerodynamics. We will see cars that are much quicker through the corners, under acceleration and in braking.

"There is nothing to say that we here in Maranello cannot build such a car…It’s just a matter of time. What we lacked on occasions this year was the ability to react quickly. We must be able to introduce new solutions before the others do."

Ferrari were one of the first teams to unveil their 2016 car, the SF16-H, doing so three days before the start of pre-season testing. Several other teams pulled the covers off their cars on the opening morning of the first test.