Ferrari finished the 2024 season in second place, just 14 points behind McLaren. It was a season where Ferrari achieved a great deal, particularly with a view to 2025, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton driving the Maranello team’s new F1 car. The work continued even after the season ended, with the Pirelli tests providing a wealth of data. Among the drivers behind the wheel of the SF-24, previously driven by Carlos Sainz, was Antonio Fuoco, who acknowledged conducting very important tests for Ferrari’s 2025 campaign.
Antonio Fuoco, Ferrari’s official driver in the WEC, had the opportunity to experience Formula 1 again on two recent occasions. A few weeks ago, he hit the track at Fiorano in the F1-75, a critical session to reacquaint himself with single-seater racing. Today, he had the chance to drive the latest evolution of the world’s fastest cars.
With 73 laps completed in the morning session, Antonio Fuoco ended the day with a lap time of 1:25.238. While this placed him at the bottom of the timesheets, Ferrari’s focus with the Calabrian driver was not on performance.
Crucial kilometers ahead of 2025
The SF-24, previously driven by Carlos Sainz, was equipped with the experimental floor that debuted in Las Vegas. This specification, described by Charles Leclerc as a new approach to improving performance under different conditions, is expected to pave the way for new development avenues and broaden the car’s operating window. This has been one of the SF-24’s weaknesses, as it struggled in specific conditions, especially in low temperatures.
During the post-season tests in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari and Antonio Fuoco focused on these aspects with the new floor. “It was important for me to have the chance to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car of this generation,” commented Antonio Fuoco, “after driving the F1-75 a few weeks ago at Fiorano. Being able to do so here in Abu Dhabi, just days after the Grand Prix, allows us to make particularly significant comparisons, as we gathered data in consistent climatic and track conditions.”
“For someone like me who spends a lot of time in the simulator, it was also crucial to work on correlation: tomorrow we’ll return to Maranello to verify some of the findings gathered here. Then we’ll take a few days off for the Christmas break before resuming work with maximum enthusiasm for 2025, in which we aim to be even more competitive.” – the Italian concluded.
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