2024-02-23 18:02:00
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The Ferrari has ‘no major problems’
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The Ferrari SF-24, completely redesigned, is currently giving full satisfaction to the Scuderia.
Echoing the words of his teammate Carlos Sainz yesterday, Charles Leclerc, at the end of the winter tests in Bahrain, which he also finished in the lead, expressed, if not his enthusiasm, at least his contentment.
Ferrari may not be as fast as Red Bull, but at least the base is healthy (unlike last year).
“We finished our third day of testing, having completed a good number of laps and carried out a lot of different tests, which is positive. The car reacts as we wanted, but it is still difficult to assess its level of competitiveness at the moment. It is still very difficult to understand exactly where we are, but we have followed our program. »
“We haven’t had any major problems. »
“I think the first good thing is that there are no surprises. Everything we expected from this car we had confirmed on the track, so that’s a good thing because it helps us develop the car on the simulator and everything seems to make sense. »
“At the moment it is very difficult to know how competitive we are. »
“I remember last year I finished testing and it was very, very difficult to understand in which direction to develop the car – because it was so irregular and inconsistent; it was very difficult to understand what the main weaknesses were. »
“This year it’s a very different story. We know exactly where we need to improve the main weaknesses of this car, and that gives us a little more hope for the development of the car. »
“Let’s wait and see what happens next Friday and I’ll tell you if it’s positive or not. »
“Last year I probably had the worst winter testing of my career. This year it’s much better. »
The SF-24, in addition to having progressed over long stints and tire wear, would also be less sensitive to wind, continues the Monegasque.
“On our side, it’s much better. »
“I think one of the main weaknesses of last year’s car was the sensitivity to wind. »
“As soon as the wind changed a little, our car was extremely difficult to drive, with huge differences in terms of balance from one corner to the next, and this year we are much better placed on this point. »
“That’s what we wanted. We worked on it a lot and we had confirmation of it from day one, which is a good thing. »
“I am convinced that we have taken a step forward in terms of tire management, because when the tires are used more, the weaknesses of the car are more apparent, you can feel them more, and with the characteristics of this car, this should be a little better. »
But this Ferrari does not present a radical solution, at least not as visually innovative as at Red Bull for example. Does this mean that the development curve will be lower than during the second half of last season when Ferrari made a lot of progress?
“I don’t know, it’s too early to say and it’s very difficult to predict. »
Despite these positive echoes, Charles Leclerc is also lucid: Red Bull remains ahead. Far ahead ?
“At the moment I feel like Red Bull still has a good lead, but we have a much stronger base than last year. »
Carlos Sainz was this time at the wheel of the SF-24 during the morning and was happy with the work done
“It was one last good effort here in Sakhir, to maximize these last few laps before moving on to the Bahrain GP next week. Overall it was a good day, despite the red flag which disrupted my session a bit, but I enjoyed every lap in the car today. »
“We tested a lot of different configurations to collect as much data as possible. The car seems to be in a decent position and I’m proud of the work the team has done to run such a strong testing programme. »
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