Communication at Ferrari in 2024 will be crucial, probably more so than for other racing teams. After all, Italy is a nation where words must be carefully weighed and reasoned before presenting them to the public. Today’s article doesn’t intend to delve into speculation. Simply put, it aims to report things as they are, without embellishments tied to the power of the press. The Maranello team recently held its usual Christmas lunch.
The occasion to appease the media and “convey” information according to their liking. We wrote about it courageously two days ago, and today we reiterate. It was indeed a meeting that proved to be of little use in an “instructive” sense, where banality, ostentatious goodwill, and self-indulgent flights of fancy prevailed. A menu rich in many vague words and little substance. The only real news concerns the date of the presentation of the new car, which will take place on February 13, 2024, one day earlier than last year.
The SF-23 was unveiled to the world with great pomp on Valentine’s Day. According to information gathered by the editorial team of FUnoanalisitecnica, the 676 project is expected to have an unveiling without too many frills. A low profile is necessary. A “different” single-seater that embraces new concepts, designed under technical dictates this time, that’s the hope. Enrico Cardile, technical director of the Scuderia, certainly did not lack a free hand.
It remains to be seen whether the presentation will take place through social media platforms, with a pre-recorded video, or if it will be a live event with various key figures and more or less ordinary statements. Returning to the present, there’s an aspect we decided to focus on in today’s piece that closely involves the two drivers of the Scuderia. The “two Carlos,” to be precise, who will firmly grasp the Ferrari steering wheel between their hands next year, trying to give their best for the common cause.
Ferrari 2024, Project 676: Charles Leclerc as the Lead Technical Driver
First and foremost, a fact: Ferrari drivers have a different driving style. We have highlighted this many times, supported by telemetry. An extremely useful tool to understand how a driver handles each turn of a track aboard the same car. For this reason, we can assert with certainty that the handling is different. Furthermore, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc have reiterated this to the press on various occasions. Speaking of updates and general settings of the car, the characteristics suit one driver more than another.
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A few weeks ago, Charles Leclerc emphasized a concept, stating that from Japan onwards, with the new floor, he felt much more comfortable. The aerodynamic measure favored the Monegasque’s style, and the proof came directly from the track in relation to his performances. We’re talking about a setup useful to maximize Charles’ performance since, without many words, he is the number one driver for the team.
He has more talent than Carlos Sainz, he is faster, and he is younger. To corroborate all this, just take a look at his contract worth 7.40 million, where the salary is significantly higher. We arrive at the point. Recently, Fred Vasseur, team principal of Ferrari, claimed that even in the next championship, there will be “equal treatment” for the drivers. He mentioned Singapore, for example, where, in reality, Charles Leclerc was anything but “comfortable” with the SF-23, not up to Carlos Sainz’s level. In these cases, it’s easy to mention equality when the performances are almost identical.
In this context, choosing whom to favor is difficult, and it is noticed quite easily. It is a burden that must be managed also on a psychological level because favoring one driver automatically prejudices the other. The French manager recalls that Charles Leclerc’s excellent results towards the end of the year stem from stimulation, as Carlos had excelled at Monza and Marina Bay. It’s a pity that the former Alfa Romeo driver clarified things, stating that his level had taken a leap thanks to the aforementioned update, a factor that gave him a lot of confidence in driving.
Fred Vasseur’s analysis continues by emphasizing the absence of a captain. The Ferrari drivers are equal, in practice, and will continue to be so in the future. The final conjecture tells a different story. Although it is quite normal and fair to support one driver when the other is out of the game, it is also true that Ferrari has chosen to strongly focus on Charles Leclerc in the near future, considering him the more skilled of the two in the hypothetical title fight. There is nothing wrong with doing so, just as it wouldn’t be wrong to say it.
Charles Leclerc’s love for Ferrari is well known, and if he has decided to support the cause despite his palmares remaining quite sparse at 26 years old, considering his talent, it is also because he knows he is the lead driver. The man on whom the future will be built, especially from a technical perspective. On the other hand, to try to beat the fantastic and solid Red Bull, it would not be foolish at all to adopt their management model regarding drivers, an approach that has indeed achieved all the set goals, bringing the Austrian team to triumph.
Source: Alessandro Arcari for FUnoanalisitecnica
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