Why Zandvoort Friday, not Hamilton signing, was Ferrari’s F1 relaunch moment

That signing, perhaps one of the biggest driver shocks in living memory, grabbed the world’s attention and laid down a real marker about Ferrari’s ambitions.

A fresh mood of optimism spread among Ferrari’s loyal tifosi fans, and the presence of chairman John Elkann at its factory to witness the final touches being made to its new SF-24 car ahead of the launch, highlighted a fresh level of enthusiasm within Maranello.

It is all part of what Ferrari’s senior management have openly labelled ‘Operation Relaunch’ – a long-term strategic vision aimed at getting the Prancing Horse back to the very front of F1.

While Hamilton’s signing is perhaps the most public of signs so far of a new era coming for Ferrari, those deeply involved with the F1 team have a slightly different view of the way change is happening.

For Charles Leclerc in particular, who has been a part of the Ferrari family for years, a defining moment for the team was nothing to do with a new driver arriving – but instead came after an under the radar practice session last year.

He thinks that what happened on the Friday of last August’s Dutch Grand Prix was a true game-changer for Ferrari – both in terms of what it learned and how it got everyone lined up.

It was at Zandvoort that, after a challenging first half to the campaign where Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had struggled to deliver answers about the lack of race pace of the SF-23, the team decided to do something different.

Rather than concentrate on tyre preparation for the weekend, instead Ferrari split set-ups completely across Leclerc and Sainz, and spent the entire day focusing on car understanding – evaluating the impact of different downforce levels and mechanical set-ups.

Writing off a practice day for such tests meant Ferrari was left on the back foot for the Dutch GP weekend, but its answers proved to deliver a breakthrough – setting up an end to the campaign that included pole position at the Italian Grand Prix and victory in Singapore.

The significance of that work should not be underestimated, reckons Leclerc, who thinks it was more of a defining moment for ‘Operation Relaunch’ than the events of the last few weeks.

“I have this feeling since six months already,” he said, when asked by Autosport about whether there was a new mood of optimism within Ferrari right now.

“Six months ago, since we…