Leclerc: Ferrari SF-24 ‘definitely a step forward’ – in the simulator

Charles Leclerc reckons that Ferrari’s new SF-24 is “definitely a step forward” compared to its 2023 predecessor based on his virtual experience in the Scuderia’s simulator.

Ferrari unveiled its 2024 challenger on Tuesday in an online presentation that was followed by a shakedown run at Fiorano.

Last season, the Italian outfit was the only team to defeat Red Bull, thanks to Carlos Sainz’s solitary win in Singapore.

However, Ferrari is aiming to bring the fight to the reigning world champions on a consistent basis this year, which justified the team’s all out effort to design a well-rounded and fast package for 2024, and one that should be easier to drive.

But while Leclerc came away with a good first impression of Ferrari’s new design, only the verdict of the track in the real world will tell the team where it potentially stands.

• Read also: Ferrari reveals new-look SF-24 F1 war horse!

“On the simulator, the feeling is good,” commented Leclerc. “The car is definitely a step forward compared to last year.

“We’ve been focusing on the main weaknesses we had last year as we do every year and for now the car on the simulator has been reacting extremely well.

“There’s obviously another important part to all of this is how much it correlates to, then, the real car once we put it in Bahrain for the first time on the track.

“This will be a crucial moment that will tell us whether we did a good job for this season. But until now, so far so good and everything we’ve tested on the simulator was positive.”

While Ferrari enjoyed a car last year that was fast over a single lap, “peaky” aerodynamics coupled with excessive sensitivity to running conditions conspired to often undermine Leclerc and Sainz’s efforts on race day.

“I think the main area where we had to work on was the sensitivity to the change of conditions,” said Leclerc.

“We had a very peaky car last year where it was very strong whenever we had all the perfect conditions but whenever one of these factors, whether it’s temperature, wind speed, force or direction, it will have a huge impact on our car.

“This we wanted to change for this car to make it better and easier to drive, as it was very difficult whenever it was windy conditions and this is something that I would like to see change for this year.”

Sainz was more guarded when asked about his initial impressions of his new mount as experienced in the simulator.

“I really don’t like going into specifics of how the car feels in the simulator, because it’s obviously something very private for the team,” he said. “But yes, it definitely feels different.

“The target is for the car to feel different, to give more confidence to the drivers and to be able to extract more lap time from it.

“Last year wasn’t easy in that front, but this year, I’m pretty sure we have made steps in the right direction. Whether it will be enough or not, only time will tell.”

Sainz highlighted how Ferrari’s development work was focused from the outset on improving “all the areas” of its car, a prerequisite for fighting for the title.

“I think if we really want to challenge for the world title this year, we need to improve in every single area of the car,” he added.

“That’s exactly what we’ve been trying to do all the winter and the past season, to try and improve every single area.

“Don’t leave anything without touching it or without trying to improve it. And with that approach and with this mindset this car is one thing to improve in every single area.”

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