Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari's SF-23 has lost a bit of speed through the corners compared to its predecessor, but he expects the car to be faster down the straights this year.
Ferrari's first new-generation ground-effect design was a winning proposition at the start of 2022, thanks in part to its downforce levels that delivered an edge to the F1-75 in the corners.
But in terms of straightline speed, the car was no match for Red Bull's RB18 which eventually proved to be the better - and more reliable - package over the course of the season.
Three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain have allowed Leclerc to draw a few early conclusions about the Scuderia's new challenger although he admitted that the Italian outfit has yet to nail the machine's "sweet spot".
©Ferrari
"I think the car changed a little bit of characteristics this year," he said in Bahrain "I expect us to be a bit quicker in the straights, maybe struggling a bit more in the corners.
"And with this three-day test, I can say that we are still working quite a bit on trying to find the sweet spot of the car in terms of set-up.
"So I hope there is some margin on that still, that we haven’t found the sweet spot yet."
On Saturday, after concluding his final run in the SF-23 and setting the fastest time in the morning session, Leclerc said the car's specific characteristics had required him to adapt his driving style.
That approach started to pay dividends on the final day of testing, but more work awaits Ferrari insisted Leclerc.
©Ferrari
"It is a different car," said the Monegasque. "You need to drive it a little bit differently, but that is what testing is for.
"I’ve been trying a lot of different driving styles. I seemed to find my way a little bit this morning, finally. But again as I said, we still have some work to do."
Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz completed pre-season testing with the fourth and fifth fastest lap times. But more importantly, reliability was rock solid for the Maranello team which logged an aggregate 417 laps of the Bahrain circuit or 2,256 km, which was the third greatest lap count behind AlphaTauri and Williams.
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