MARANELLO, Italy — The main road that runs into Maranello from the north has become a pilgrimage spot for Ferrari fans at this time of year. About half a mile from the team’s famous factory gate, the road ascends to cross a ring road and — although Maranello’s town planners have never considered that — provides a perspective perfect on the first corner of the Fiorano test track.
On Tuesday morning, rumors were circulating among Ferrari’s loyal followers, known as tifosithat the team’s new Formula 1 car will debut song at Fiorano right after midday. Hundreds of fans have personally come to celebrate the unofficial start of the 2023 season, and as the surrounding industrial park echoes the hum of the SF23’s V6, the concrete flyover fills with people.
Inside Fiorano’s gates, Ferrari invited 500 more fans from its official supporters club to watch the launch from a makeshift stand. Team sponsors were invited and dined in a race-side hotel unit and a media center was established in one of the old fortified buildings next to the founder’s former ranch house. Enzo Ferrari company.
While the car launch doesn’t affect the team’s chances of success at the end of the year, the nature of the SF23 requires a certain degree of reliability from Ferrari. New Formula 1 cars are notoriously erratic, and choosing to run on the track at a public event — with more than 200,000 fans watching via YouTube — risks leading to an embarrassing start to the race. year.
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said: “The risk is relatively high to put a brand new F1 car on the track in front of so many people and really enjoy it without problems.”
“Normally during an installation round there are some minor issues here and there, but today everything went smoothly. I could really push the car a little in the corners and feel some of it. thing.”
Sainz lost a coin toss to decide which of the two Ferrari drivers would hit the track first, but benefited from knowing the car behaved itself with teammate Charles Leclerc behind the wheel ahead of him.
“I asked Charles ‘Is everything all right? Is everything all right? When braking, the car feels normal, doesn’t it?’ He said, ‘Yes, everything is fine,’ and I went out and pushed and tried to feel something.”
Only six laps have been completed between the two drivers in accordance with F1’s demonstration run rules, but the car will head back to Fiorano on Wednesday to complete another 100 kilometers before heading to Bahrain next week to begin testing. official pre-season experience.
“I gave a bit of feedback to the engineers for tomorrow,” added Sainz. “And tomorrow we have the first 100 km where we will continue building to Bahrain, but obviously until Bahrain we won’t know how the car will handle and how it will perform. but at least we’ll be taking some good steps in the right direction.”
A good start to the season is one thing, but maintaining that form all year long has been Ferrari’s weak point since they last won the title in 2008. Despite the winning drought, the goal of the team hasn’t changed in the last 15 years and there hasn’t shied away from the ultimate goal of reclaiming the title this year.
“The goal is obviously to win,” Leclerc said. “Winning is what drives me and the team. I’m excited to get back in the car and try to win that championship.”
Last year, Leclerc started the season with two wins in the first three races, but by the sixth lap in Spain, Max Verstappen took the lead and then never let it slip away. Ultimately, a combination of reliability issues, strategic blunders and driver error put an end to Ferrari’s title challenge by mid-year, though in the second half of the season, it was also outpaced by rival Red Bull.
The disappointment of finishing second in the championship led to the resignation of team principal Mattia Binotto last December and he has since resigned. replaced by former Alfa Romeo boss, Fred Vasseur in early January. It is an important step forward for Vasseur, but the Frenchman said the same rules governing the F1 team also apply.
“The team is bigger but it’s not a TV series,” he said. “The DNA and the approach of the business is much more important than the size of the company. I think running a racing team is different from many other companies, because you don’t have to push people, motivation is there and the motivation is very complete in terms of management.
“The big difference, I would say, is different expectations, different pressure, but you can take that in a positive way. It’s certainly different feeling and mood around the team. – I think that’s the only thing the team that when you get to the factory at 7am, you have someone waiting for you outside the gate.You can feel the momentum and the atmosphere around the team and that’s a driving force. big for everyone.”
Vasseur has ruled out a team overhaul before the first race, choosing to take the time to understand Ferrari’s shortcomings before implementing the changes. Speaking on Tuesday, he said the priority over the winter was to fix last year’s engine reliability issues, which not only resulted in a race stoppage, but also forced the team to reduce its performance. motor to reduce the risk of damage.
“I think everyone’s first priority is reliability because when you’re at this stage of the season and you don’t have reliability you can’t play for three days.” [testing] and then you’re starting to go in the wrong direction,” Vasseur said. “Based on the data from the dyno, we are all optimistic, but only Bahrain can tell us where we are in terms of reliability and efficiency. capacity. So far it is OK.
“On other topics, the vision you have from outside the team has always been a little bit different, and as you know it’s been very short notice for me and I’ve spent the last four weeks trying to understand what’s going on. happened in the last group. five, but I will not draw any conclusions before the first event and we must know each other before taking any action.”
However, Vasseur cautions that the strength of Ferrari’s rivals – most notably Red Bull and former champion Mercedes – means the team cannot stop pushing in any area. He emphasized the importance of all parts of the team getting results, again with the clear goal of delivering trophies to the team. tifosi at the end of the year.
“I think it’s the DNA of our sport that you’re always trying to improve in every area,” he added. “It has nothing to do with Ferrari or another team, it has nothing to do with one department or another, you always try to do a better job tomorrow than today.
“You can talk about strategy or tire management, but that’s true everywhere. Even if we fix the problem for the next five races, we’ll go ahead and do better for what. happens doesn’t matter, even if you win in Bahrain it won’t be the end of the championship.
“We have to stay focused and keep this mindset, but the championship will be long, we have 23 races and it won’t end one way or the other at the end. [the first race in] Bahrain. To progress, you must be aware and never be satisfied with what you have, because you can always do better.
“For me this is the DNA of our sport and we have to keep this ambition.”
