Ferrari will be even stronger in 2016 - Vettel

Sebastian Vettel is certain Ferrari will be "even stronger" as a team in 2016 than last season.

The four-time world champion took three victories in his first season as a Ferrari driver as he finished third in the drivers' championship. Vettel was not the only new face at Ferrari as the team had a new president in Sergio Marchionne and new team principal in Maurizio Arrivabene.

Having been Mercedes' nearest rival despite a season of change in terms of key personnel, Vettel says Ferrari is more capable of fighting at the front this year.

"We had a fantastic year last year - obviously my first season with the team - and we all want more," Vettel said.  "Last year, we finished second overall in the constructors' championship so there is only one more step which is a difficult one to take but hopefully this car will help us achieve it.

"We have improved in many areas. When I joined the team there were a lot of people changing their positions and it was a difficult time to have expectations. But now we have had a much better winter to prepare and therefore we will be a strong team - as we have seen already last year - but even stronger this year."

Ferrari launched its new car - the SF16-H - online on Friday afternoon, with Arrivabene setting the team the target of fighting for the championship until the end of the season.

VIDEO: Mercedes W07 on track at Silverstone

GALLERY: First pictures of the FW38

Check out Red Bull Racing's 2016 livery

Key dates for the 2016 F1 season

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

Wolff rubbishes rumors of early F1 debut for Antonelli

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff has firmly shut down speculation regarding a potential fast-track…

26 mins ago

Newey: As Forrest Gump said, 'I'm feeling a little bit tired'

Adrian Newey has made it clear that he currently has “no plan” to remain in…

2 hours ago

Mercedes seeks answers after falling short in Sprint quali

Mercedes were left picking up the pieces after yet another disappointing and frustrating performance in…

3 hours ago

Bottas to start Sprint from the back after grid penalty

Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas has been handed a three-place grid penalty for Saturday's Sprint race…

10 hours ago

Miami GP: Friday's action in pictures

The action kicked off in earnest on Friday in sunny Miami on Friday, with Max…

10 hours ago

Ricciardo 'proud of what I did' with P4 on Sprint grid

Daniel Ricciardo has suffered a terrible start to his season with RB that left him…

11 hours ago