They’re the duo of the yr, probably the most anticipated pair of the brand new Method 1 season. One, at Ferrari since 2019, desires of profitable his first World Championship after a 2024 marked by nice development. The opposite, newly arrived in Maranello, will debut in pink for the primary time on the age of 40 after already profitable seven world titles. They’re Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, the drivers Ferrari will discipline on the grid within the new F1 season. And whereas questions come up about how they are going to coexist within the storage, technical traits and driving preferences shifting in the identical path will ease the difference of Ferrari’s new duo.
All through 2024, it turned clear that driver confidence within the conduct of their respective vehicles performed a elementary position. The flexibility to push to the restrict whereas exploiting the automobile in response to their driving model typically made extra of a distinction than will increase in aerodynamic load or effectivity gained from updates. It’s no shock that, over the yr, with the identical automobile on the identical monitor, suggestions from teammates typically diverged, as seen with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, in addition to with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, on account of their differing driving types. What appeared to work greatest for one driver typically brought on points for the opposite, and vice versa.
That Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have almost an identical driving types is subsequently of great significance because the season approaches. Each drivers carry excessive pace into nook entry, delaying braking after which urgent onerous on the brake pedal whereas initiating the flip with a really decisive steering enter. From that time, they handle the automobile’s rotation to appropriate any rear instability, “speaking” with the accelerator on the apex, able to push totally as soon as the automobile aligns on exit. This trait calls for a extremely responsive entrance finish at nook entry, whereas the ensuing rear-end lightness that induces oversteer is just not an issue. Each Ferrari drivers want an oversteering automobile that may be managed mid-corner whereas enabling greater entry speeds. This dynamic conduct is much less pronounced in fashionable ground-effect vehicles, that are sometimes understeering by nature. Nonetheless, it may be adjusted by way of setup, aerodynamic ideas like load distribution, and suspension response dynamics.
For Ferrari, having two drivers with related driving types will probably be extremely advantageous. This could result in sooner automobile setup optimization, which turns into much more important throughout Dash race weekends with much less time out there for setup evaluations. Improvement packages may also profit from constant suggestions, enabling the group to evaluate their effectiveness with out ambiguity. One other Ferrari driver who favored high-speed nook entry with late braking and centered on a trajectory that minimized mid-corner time to align the automobile earlier on exit was Michael Schumacher. His model resembles that of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. This similarity is an auspicious signal for Ferrari’s newly fashioned pair, already aiming in the identical path with a single aim: to win.
Purchase official Ferrari F1 merchandise!
Let different Scuderia Followers find out about us
