Frederic Vasseur revealed on Saturday that the Ferrari squad are quietly confident about the performance of the SF-75 following Formula 1’s pre-season testing but he admitted that it was too early to make any conclusive judgements.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc completed a total of 415 laps between them over the three-day test and the pair put in some competitive lap times, albeit with the caveat that teams typically run in lower engine modes or with higher fuel loads during testing runs.
Ferrari did have some problems sprung on them though, on the first day, part of the front wing gave way. The dip was quickly given the nickname “dimple” and was due to a structural weakness which was quickly fixed.
“It has been three intense days of work for everyone in the team,” Vasseur said following the third day of testing.
“We have scanned a number of items on the car and ticked many of the boxes of our programme, without worrying about lap times or what the others have been doing, simply focusing on ourselves.”
Ignoring Red Bull’s strong testing performance in Bahrain would have been difficult for the team. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez consistently set fastest laps throughout the test and were able to put in a similar 412 laps between them.
“The main target was getting as much mileage under our belt as possible and we did that, although it’s also true that you always want to do more and have more time. But it’s the same for everyone.
“Whenever we managed to put everything together the performance seemed to be there, but we are clearly still in the process of getting to know the car so it’s too early to say anything.
“The mood in the team is perfect and we are in a good shape to start this long season.”
Vassuer took over from former Team Principal Mattia Binotto in December after a frustrating end to the 2022 season. Ferrari’s technical advancements failed to keep pace with those that Red Bull made, and ultimately Leclerc lost his grip on the World Championship despite initially having a strong start to the season.
Ferrari’s confidence has been obvious so far this year. The team even chose to run the SF-75 on track in front media at their car launch in February.
They will now be hoping to translate that confidence into performance as they head into the first race weekend of the season next week.
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