Bringing a brand new automotive to its debut all the time feels particular. For Charles Leclerc, it’s nothing new, as he has already had the possibility to take the primary laps in a brand new automotive throughout his years at Maranello, however this 12 months it feels barely totally different.
The need to win stays unchanged, identical to in earlier years, as does the Monegasque driver’s drive to battle for the specified outcomes. Nonetheless, this 12 months there may be nice enthusiasm across the Scuderia, not solely because of the arrival of a champion like Lewis Hamilton but in addition due to the work achieved by the engineers, with an optimism that additionally exhibits in Ferrari’s phrases.
Frederic Vasseur defined that to succeed in the declared purpose, the world title, a revolution of the SF-24 was not obligatory, however moderately a reasoned evolution, particularly contemplating the result of the previous season, the place the Scuderia completed with a aggressive automotive and achieved some satisfactions.
It’s from that base that the engineers began, with a part of the ground being an evolution of the experimental one examined on the finish of the earlier 12 months. Ferrari desires to carry all the weather collectively to seize a title that eluded them in 2024.
Charles Leclerc is very dreaming of it, believing that this 12 months the entire Ferrari workforce has achieved an unimaginable job to be prepared not just for the primary take a look at subsequent week in Sakhir but in addition to carry a aggressive automotive to the monitor.
“My need to turn into world champion has all the time been the identical. I like what I do, I like Ferrari, and I need to win with Ferrari. Profitable the title in purple could be one thing unimaginable. I’m doing every little thing I can to attempt to make it occur as rapidly as attainable, and I hope that is the proper 12 months,” stated the Monegasque to Sky Italia microphones after the primary filming day.
“We’ve labored rather well, not simply me coaching however the entire workforce. They’ve labored to make sure we arrive on the first checks as ready as attainable. We’ve achieved many days within the simulator, many laps, and it was optimistic to organize for this primary day and the checks.”
Clearly, the ultimate phrase will come solely from the monitor, with the stopwatch being the one actual instrument to seek out the solutions sought. Nonetheless, the premises are very optimistic, particularly since this winter may be very totally different from the final one. If twelve months in the past Ferrari was coming off the dominance of Crimson Bull and had utterly modified its aerodynamic idea, this 12 months the SF-25 is an evolution of its predecessor, hoping to have made a step ahead in the important thing areas.
After a robust end to final season, with a grid that usually proved very shut and open to surprises, the purpose is to intention excessive. Because of this, Charles Leclerc didn’t conceal that if, on the finish of the 12 months, neither of the 2 world titles was gained, the season may very well be a disappointment. The purpose, nevertheless, is to make sure that this doesn’t occur and that the 12 months might be closed with a smile, writing a web page of Ferrari historical past.
“Final 12 months we completed second within the constructors’ and I used to be very upset. So, the purpose now could be to win. That’s all the time the proper purpose for Ferrari, so once you’re in purple, you must intention to win. I will surely be upset if we didn’t win each titles, however we’ll do every little thing we will to win,” Charles Leclerc stated.
Charles Leclerc was additionally the driving force who opened the debut with the SF-25, bringing the brand new automotive to its first outing after getting back from the London presentation at 4:30 within the morning, solely to be again on monitor at Fiorano for the primary assembly with the engineers at 7:30.
Clearly, it’s too early to attract conclusions, because the filming day is extra of an preliminary contact with the automotive, though each drivers had the chance to push and begin to really feel the automotive.
The primary impressions, nevertheless, are optimistic, and above all, the workforce didn’t encounter any adverse surprises within the first 200 kilometers of testing: “I’d all the time prefer to really feel extra, particularly on such an necessary first day, with a lot enthusiasm, as a result of it’s the primary time we drive this automotive,” Charles Leclerc stated.
“As for the sensations, the optimistic side is that there have been no adverse surprises, which is what we search for within the first laps. We didn’t encounter any surprising emotions or numbers, that wasn’t the case at this time, and that’s the excellent news. Going past may be very tough for now, however the feeling was good, and the environment was unimaginable.” – the Monegasque driver concluded.
Purchase official Ferrari F1 merchandise!
Let different Scuderia Followers find out about us
