There was plenty of talk about the new Mission Winnow green logo on the Ferrari SF21 – and according to the sponsor, that was the point.

The Scuderia’s title sponsor, which has featured on the livery since 2018, is an initiative driven by cigarette and tobacco manufacturing company Philip Morris International.

Ever since their arrival on the Ferrari car, their logo has always previously been black and white on the engine cover – so when they unveiled their 2021 challenger which sports a green logo, fans were taken aback.

Plenty of opinions were shared, with many feeling there is no place for the colour on a typically red Ferrari car. But the reaction it has stimulated was partly why the change was made.

As quoted by RaceFans, Philip Morris International spokesperson Tommaso Di Giovanni said: “From the start, Mission Winnow has always experimented with its visual identity.

“Much like a green screen does for film, the green arrow represents possibility and opens the opportunity to imagine new horizons.

“Regardless of opinions about the colour, sparking debate and creating dialogue is exactly what Mission Winnow is meant to do. We have consistently encouraged people to place their preconceptions about our company aside and to open their mind to the transformation we are going through.

“More broadly, Mission Winnow focus on promoting [and] driving positive change, fostering engagement and opening conversations around the role that science, technology and innovation can play in helping to address a range of societal challenges – now and into the future.”

Due to their links with tobacco, the inclusion of the sponsorship has been a controversial one, but the company have reiterated the initiative “is not meant to ‘promote’ any product or brand” but is more about promoting positive change.

Nevertheless, criticisms of Ferrari have continued with Codacons, who last year threatened Ferrari with legal action, again showing they are against the sponsorship involvement of Mission Winnow.

A statement from them read: “We strongly contest Ferrari’s choice to resort once again to a sponsor directly linked to tobacco, despite the legal prohibitions and the serious health effects of smoking on human health.”

Mission Winnow did not actually feature on a Ferrari car last season during a grand prix – only in testing – and it is yet unclear whether that will be the same in 2021.

As revealed by Motorsport.com last weekend, the Woking-based team emerged in pre-season testing in Bahrain with a unique diffuser solution that tries to claw back some of the losses triggered by new aero rules.

For while the height of diffuser strakes has been trimmed by 50mm this year, McLaren has cleverly extended the floor transition in a central area not limited by this restriction to allow it to run deeper fins.

McLaren technical director James Key has insisted the design is not trying to exploit a loophole in the rules, and instead says his team has implemented what he thinks is a ‘straightforward’ concept.

“It is a normal design idea, and actually I think we are a bit surprised that maybe we're the only team with that,” explained Key.

“It's just one feature of many in an area which changed for this year. You've got a certain regulation of a continuous surface in that area within the Y250 position, either side of the centreline of the car. Those little vortex generators down there which you see as well on pretty much every car now, these little aluminium or carbon parts are actually governed by de facto the same rule. So it's fairly straightforward.

“You need the CAD screen to see it, because you're taking cross sections of a 3D surface, so it's fair to question I suppose when it's difficult to tell without that CAD data to prove it's within the boxes it should be in and to prove it's a continuous surface. But that's really all it is.”

McLaren’s rivals will almost certainly be evaluating how much benefit there is to being able to run the two longer diffuser strakes in that region, with Key suspecting others could follow suit in the early stages of the season.

“I think the first port of call with any idea you see out there is CFD, so I think you can jump on an idea that you spot on another team within a week easily nowadays,” he explained. “I guess if there's still interest after a week, whether it's our diffuser or Mercedes' edge of floor detail or whatever it is, I think you can get a feel for things quite quick.

“Then it's really understanding how it works with your car. That's the key to this. You can then end up with a unique geometry of your own because you might understand the principle, but then you have to adapt it accordingly that it works with your car. The diffuser situation for example is also very stable in that environment as well.

“So you'd probably therefore wind tunnel test it, which might be a week or two down the line, and then you've got to manufacture it. These particular steps are pretty straightforward. So you could say between three and five weeks between taking the picture and putting it on the car if you really wanted to push this through.”

Key was full of praise for McLaren’s aero department though, in having first spotted the way the design could be incorporated for 2021.

“I think it's always nice for a team to come up with an idea which is unique and the credit fully goes to our aero department and the guys in the rear aero group for realising that there was an opportunity there to use the new regulations in such a way,” he said.

“I suppose it's one of the visible things which gets talked about a lot, but ultimately it's just a bit of a much wider picture of a complex part of the back of the car. I'm sure it'll be forgotten by the time we get back here in a couple of weeks' time.”

This year, the entirety of pre-season testing was compressed into three days at the Bahrain International Circuit to help minimise costs and ensure that cargo could be shipped to the same venue as the opening round, following the postponement of the Australian Grand Prix.

But the complete overhaul in F1's technical regulations for 2022 means that teams are keen to extend the number of days available for testing.

AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost was positive about F1's decision to test in Bahrain, citing the more clement weather as ideal, but also added that the teams will need more test days to get on top of next year's cars.

"I always was positive to test in Bahrain or in Abu Dhabi, and I think [on the Friday] in the morning and [the Saturday] morning, we had reasonably good conditions, but [Friday] in the afternoon, it was quite bad," said Tost.

"Barcelona is quite difficult during this time of the year. It can be wet, it can be cold. When we normally would have had the test, one day it was wet, it was around 14 degrees, these are not test conditions which are optimal for Formula 1.

"During the season, we will sit together and then we will decide. Next year we have a new car and therefore I don’t think that three test days will be enough.

"But we have to find a good balance between the number of the days and the costs, because 2022 will not become quite a cheap year. We have to take everything into consideration."

Aston Martin chief Otmar Szafnauer agreed with Tost, suggesting that choosing the right venue as well as the right length of time was crucial for testing 2022's cars adequately.

He added that 2021's three test days were "appropriate" for the continuation of last year's cars, in which teams were allowed to make limited updates to the structural parts of the chassis via a token system.

"Like Franz says, we’re going to have an entirely new car next year and that should go into considering where and for how long we test next year," Szafnauer explained.

"I think three days was appropriate for this year with what happened in 2020, the pandemic, and reducing the amount of development in the car.

"The weather is hard to predict [during testing]. [On Friday] we had the sandstorm in the afternoon which wasn’t ideal, but like Franz says, you go to Barcelona and it could have been wet and cold.

"So I think we finish off here, and then decide what’s most appropriate for next year at a later time."

Some of the drivers also agreed that more testing would be ideal for 2022, as the cars will handle differently owing to the expected reductio in overall downforce levels.

Williams' George Russell said that teams would need about six days to test for 2022, but added that this figure could be reduced over the following seasons if the rules remain static.

"I think more testing benefits everybody and it's a disadvantage to everybody as well with having less testing," said Russell. "I think in the case of next year we have such an extreme change to the regulations, [and] it is important to have, I think at least six days under our belt for the teams.

"But then moving forward, if the regulations are stable as they have been over the past three or four years, I think, three days, four days as we're doing at the moment is probably a good number."

Following former Haas driver Romain Grosjean’s departure from Formula 1 to IndyCar, it’s been announced that Williams racer George Russell will replace the Frenchman on the board of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, in the role of director.

Russell joins existing members, fellow director Sebastian Vettel and Chairman Alex Wurz, as well as another director, Anastasia Fowle – the first ever non-driver appointment – in the GPDA, the trade union of Formula 1 drivers founded in 1961, and whose brief is to represent the interest of the drivers, particularly in matters of safety.

In a statement, the GPDA wrote that the organisation would “like to sincerely thank Romain Grosjean for his dedication and commitment over his four years as director and wishes him a fantastic and successful time in IndyCar.”

Grosjean will maintain a role as an Advisor to the GPDA in 2021, “to finish his ongoing work and the lessons learned from his accident [at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix]”, according to the statement.

Speaking of his appointment, meanwhile, Russell said: “It is an honour and privilege to be nominated director of the GPDA. I appreciate the support of my fellow drivers in entrusting this role to me and recognise the responsibility it entails.

“In its six decades of existence, the GPDA has been an integral part of supporting and shaping F1 safety, for the sport and our fans. I am looking forward to tackling the new challenges and opportunities alongside Anastasia, Sebastian and Alex.”

Following the announcement, 23-year-old Russell will now turn his attention to the Bahrain Grand Prix season-opening weekend on March 26-28, as he prepares to begin his third year with Williams.

Sebastian Vettel’s miserable first weekend with Aston Martin concluded with the four-time World Champion amassing a total of five penalty points at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Vettel was slapped with a five-place grid drop and three penalty points on Sunday lunchtime after convening with stewards to discuss a double yellow flag transgression that occurred during Q1.

It was determined that he failed to adhere to the regulations and was hit with the subsequent sanction.

Vettel ran a long first stint from the back of the grid but clashed with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon under braking for Turn 1.

Vettel tipped Ocon into a spin and was deemed culpable for the collision.

Stewards determined that Vettel was “wholly to blame” and issued a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points.

It brings his rolling 12-month total up to five points in the course of one weekend.

The penalty meant Vettel finished the race in 15th spot, ahead only of Haas debutant Mick Schumacher, with four cars failing to reach the chequered flag.