Charles Leclerc played down expectations of a resurgence from Ferrari after leading the final day of pre-season testing.
He said the SF-24 has clearly addressed the balance problems which made its predecessor difficult to drive consistently, particularly in changeable conditions. However he has not yet seen any signs they can compete with last year’s dominant champions Red Bull.
“From the first lap on the simulator it felt like an easier car to drive whenever we drove with some wind. Similarly on the track, from the very first laps here once we get here, the feeling was good. We managed to be consistent straight away and this will help the race runs.
“However drive-ability and competitiveness are two very different things. Last year we were struggling a lot to be consistent because the car was just a little bit all over the place whenever there was some wind. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that, especially in qualifying, that doesn’t mean that we’ll win a lot thanks to that. And that doesn’t mean anything compared to Red Bull.
“So we still have to work a lot and then we’ll see how competitive we are next Friday. But I am confident that we definitely did a step forward in terms of tyre management because whenever tyres are more used the weaknesses of the car are more apparent, you can feel them more, and with the characteristics of this car, it should be quite a bit better.”
Leclerc’s team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr set the outright quickest time of the test. Nonetheless Leclerc believes it’s “still very difficult to understand exactly where we are” compared to their rivals.
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He was encouraged by how smoothly the test went for Ferrari. “We have gone through our program, we didn’t have any major issues. I think the first good thing is that there are no surprises.
“Everything that we expected from this car, we got it on the real track. That is a good thing because that helps us to develop the car on the simulator, and everything seems to make sense.
“How competitive we are it’s very difficult to understand for now. My first feeling is that Red Bull is still quite a bit ahead. But we have a much stronger base compared to last year.
“I remember last year I finished the test and it was very, very difficult to understand in which direction to develop because the car was just so inconsistent. It was very difficult to understand what were the main weaknesses.
“This year it’s a…
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