Leclerc Gives Verdict On New Ferrari Car After Testing It In Bahrain

Friday, 23 February 2024 at 12:45

Charles Leclerc shared his feelings about Ferrari's 2024 challenger, Sf-24, after the second day of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Charles Leclerc completed 54 laps during the second day of pre-season testing - just three laps less than the total race distance of the Bahrain Grand Prix race that will take place next week.

Even though he raced only during the morning session and the first hour of the afternoon session, he recorded the sixth-fastest lap of the whole day.

The track in Bahrain is the fastest at the late hours of the afternoon session when the sun sets, and it cools down. Therefore, the result suggests that the 26-year-old had a very decent pace. According to @FanaticsFerrari on X (formerly Twitter), he told the media:

“"In terms of driveability, the car is a lot better compared to last year. Last year, after the test, it was very difficult to push into a direction because we just didn't know what the car was doing."”

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Ferrari drivers struggled with drivability significantly throughout the majority of the 2023 season, so the team's main goal was to improve it for this year, and it seems they were successful.

“"We would get into a corner and we didn’t know whether we will have extreme oversteer or extreme understeer, which was a big problem."”

Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz set the fastest lap of the day, and he also almost broke the fastest lap of the qualifying session of the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix but only missed it by 2 tenths.

Everything suggests Ferrari was able to make the step in the right direction. Will it be enough to compete for the title? We don't know yet, but for now, Leclerc added:

“"This year, the car is not like that, which is a better starting point. I think the driveability is going to help us on the long runs. I think that for tire degradation, for race runs overall, I think we should be in a better place."”