Ferrari has denied reports it has already finalised a launch date for its 2016 car.

Reports on Thursday suggested the new Ferrari would be launched online on either February 19 or 20 ahead of the start of pre-season testing in Barcelona on February 22. However, Ferrari denies it has set a date to unveil the new car and says it will make an announcement when it finalises its plans.

"The launch date and format will be made public in due time," a Ferrari spokesman told F1i. "What you may have heard so far is plain speculation."

An online unveiling would be in keeping with Ferrari's approach - and that of many other teams - over the past few years, with the Scuderia launching its last two cars via its website ahead of the start of testing.

All car launches will be later this season as a result of a reduction in pre-season testing, with the first of two tests taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from February 22-25, compared to a February 1 start last year.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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