Bringing a brand new automobile to its debut at all times feels particular. For Charles Leclerc, it’s nothing new, as he has already had the prospect to take the primary laps in a brand new automobile throughout his years at Maranello, however this yr it feels barely totally different.
The need to win stays unchanged, similar to in earlier years, as does the Monegasque driver’s drive to combat for the specified outcomes. Nonetheless, this yr 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 achieve the declared purpose, the world title, a revolution of the SF-24 was not needed, however quite a reasoned evolution, particularly contemplating the end result of the previous season, the place the Scuderia completed with a aggressive automobile 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 yr. Ferrari needs 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 yr the entire Ferrari workforce has achieved an unbelievable job to be prepared not just for the primary take a look at subsequent week in Sakhir but in addition to carry a aggressive automobile to the monitor.
“My want to grow to be world champion has at all times been the identical. I really like what I do, I really like Ferrari, and I need to win with Ferrari. Successful the title in purple could be one thing unbelievable. I’m doing all the pieces I can to attempt to make it occur as rapidly as potential, and I hope that is the proper yr,” mentioned 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 exams as ready as potential. We’ve achieved many days within the simulator, many laps, and it was constructive to arrange for this primary day and the exams.”
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 constructive, particularly since this winter could be very totally different from the final one. If twelve months in the past Ferrari was coming off the dominance of Purple Bull and had fully modified its aerodynamic idea, this yr the SF-25 is an evolution of its predecessor, hoping to have made a step ahead in the important thing areas.
After a powerful end to final season, with a grid that usually proved very shut and open to surprises, the purpose is to purpose excessive. Because of this, Charles Leclerc didn’t cover that if, on the finish of the yr, neither of the 2 world titles was gained, the season could possibly be a disappointment. The purpose, nonetheless, is to make sure that this doesn’t occur and that the yr might be closed with a smile, writing a web page of Ferrari historical past.
“Final yr we completed second within the constructors’ and I used to be very disenchanted. So, the purpose now’s to win. That’s at all times the proper purpose for Ferrari, so if you’re in purple, you need to purpose to win. I will surely be disenchanted if we didn’t win each titles, however we’ll do all the pieces we are able to to win,” Charles Leclerc mentioned.
Charles Leclerc was additionally the driving force who opened the debut with the SF-25, bringing the brand new automobile to its first outing after coming 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 automobile, though each drivers had the chance to push and begin to really feel the automobile.
The primary impressions, nonetheless, are constructive, and above all, the workforce didn’t encounter any damaging surprises within the first 200 kilometers of testing: “I’d at all times prefer to really feel extra, particularly on such an vital first day, with a lot enthusiasm, as a result of it’s the primary time we drive this automobile,” Charles Leclerc mentioned.
“As for the sensations, the constructive side is that there have been no damaging 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 right this moment, and that’s the excellent news. Going past could be very troublesome for now, however the feeling was good, and the ambiance was unbelievable.” – the Monegasque driver concluded.
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