Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Ferrari now at championship level - Allison

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Ferrari technical director James Allison says the team is now at championship level with the SF16-H.

The new Ferrari was launched online on Friday, featuring a short nose and a number of technical innovations as the team looks to close the gap to Mercedes. Allison admits when he re-joined the team in 2013 it was a long way from being able to challenge for the championship but he now feels Ferrari has improved across the board to fight for titles.

GALLERY: Ferrari SF16-H

"I think it's probably fair to say that back in 2013 Ferrari was not at the right level, not at the championship level in probably anything except maybe doing pit stops very quickly," Allison said. "So we didn't have enough power in 2014, we didn't have enough downforce, kinematics on our suspension were not ideal and our packaging left a lot to be desired as well.

"We've worked very hard - the whole team has worked very hard - on all those areas. Last year was a decent step forward, and we hope that this car will be another good step forward, another step to make us properly competitive.

"But it isn't true to say that one area has done any better than any other area. We've improved across the board; horsepower, downforce, handling, everywhere. And all our hopes are in this car and I think we're very proud of what we've done and we can't wait to see it running on the track."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.