Charles Leclerc has expressed positive initial signs regarding Ferrari’s 2024 Formula 1 car, citing that it’s “definitely a step forward” from the SF-23 on the simulator.
Ferrari is endeavouring to rebound from a challenging campaign last term that saw it drop to third in the Constructors’ Championship, 454 points behind Red Bull.
The Italian marque has committed to a “complete revamp” with the SF-24, which was revealed for the first time on Tuesday.
Carlos Sainz had the honour of conducting the first shakedown at the team’s Fiorano test track, but Leclerc says the indications from the simulator model were encouraging.
“On the simulator, the feeling is good,” Leclerc said. “The car is definitely a step forward compared to last year.
“We’ve been focusing on the main weaknesses we had last year as we do every year and for now the car on the simulator has been reacting extremely well.”
Leclerc revealed recently that he is optimistic Ferrari will avoid any correlation issues, but he admits that the team’s progress will only be confirmed once it hits the race track.
“There’s obviously another important part to all of this is how much it correlates to, then, the real car once we put it in Bahrain for the first time on the track,” he added.
“This will be a crucial moment that will tell us whether we did a good job for this season. But until now, so far so good and everything we’ve tested on the simulator was positive.”
Leclerc has highlighted that Ferrari’s primary aim was to produce a more compliant car after both drivers suffered from the unpredictability imposed by the SF-23.
“I think the main area where we had to work on was the sensitivity to the change of conditions,” Leclerc commented.
“We had a very peaky car last year where it was very strong whenever we had all the perfect conditions but whenever one of these factors, whether it’s temperature, wind speed, force or direction, it will have a huge impact on our car.
“This we wanted to change for this car to make it better and easier to drive, as it was very difficult whenever it was windy conditions and this is something that I would like to see change for this year.”
Meanwhile, prior to getting behind the wheel of Ferrari’s latest creation, Sainz concurred with his team-mate’s assessment that its virtual behaviour differed from last year.
“I really don’t like going into specifics of how the car feels in the simulator, because it’s obviously something very private for the team,” he contended. “But yes, it definitely feels different.
“The target is for the car to feel different, to give more confidence to the drivers and to be able to extract more lap time from it.
“Last year wasn’t easy in that front, but this year, I’m pretty sure we have made steps in the right direction. Whether it will be enough or not, only time will tell.”
The Spaniard, who achieved the only non-Red Bull win of last season, concedes that Ferrari will have needed to improve in every area to be a contender for the championship.
“I think if we really want to challenge for the world title this year, we need to improve in every single area of the car.
“That’s exactly what we’ve been trying to do all the winter and the past season, to try and improve every single area. Don’t leave anything without touching it or without trying to improve it. And with that approach and with this mindset this car is one thing to improve in every single area.”
