With less than 30 days until the official start of the 2019 Formula one season, Scuderia Ferrari can look ahead with confidence as the Maranello team will attempt to end Mercedes’ domination of the sport in recent years. More than a decade has passed since the prestigious Italian side last won the Formula One title, with Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen taking the glory back in 2007. Ferrari won the constructors’ championship the following year, but since then, Formula One’s most successful team constantly struggled and encountered many difficulties despite always having some of the best drivers on the grid, such as Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso or more recently Sebastian Vettel.
Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel will now look to redeem himself in the eyes of the Scuderia Ferrari fans following a season in which several mistakes led to another disappointing outcome for the Maranello team, who once again had to settle for second place in the final standings, behind main rival Mercedes. The SF90 car, Ferrari’s challenger for the 2019 F1 championship, has impressed during the first four days of pre-season testing, displaying good reliability and decent pace, which should provide Sebastian Vettel a strong package to battle against Lewis Hamilton. One major factor will be the new aero regulations, especially regarding the front and rear wing concept for this year: Ferrari has caught everyone’s eye with a unique front wing concept, a completely different approach from the designs used by Mercedes and Red Bull. If the Italian side’s engineers did in fact come up with a more efficient aerodynamic solution for the SF90 car, it could prove to be a decisive factor in the championship battle and the initial data from the testing session which took place this week at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona indicated that things look extremely promising for Team Principal Mattia Binotto and his staff.
And with all the pieces of the puzzle coming into place, you can bet that Sebastian Vettel is already looking forward to the challenge of beating Lewis Hamilton and winning his first title with the Prancing Horse. Although the German driver remains Ferrari’s main title contender in 2019, much is also expected from Charles Leclerc, the 21-year-old Monégasque racing driver who replaces veteran Kimi Raikkonen in the Maranello team after a sensational rookie season in 2018. If the talented young driver will be able to cope with the pressure of having to maximize results each Formula One weekend, Charles Leclerc can prove to be a valuable asset in the fight for the constructors’ championship, as Scuderia Ferrari will need both drivers to constantly score wins and podiums in order to successfully challenge the dominant Mercedes team.
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