Charles Leclerc says Ferrari have a “very different” car project for 2024 and their recent understanding of their 2023 car confirms they’ve made “good choice”; Fred Vasseur optimistic Ferrari won’t repeat Mercedes’ error; watch the Japanese GP on Sky Sports F1 this weekend
Last Updated: 20/09/23 6:43am
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari’s 2024 F1 car will be “very different” from their 2023 challenger and hopes recent learnings about the SF23’s weaknesses will ensure next year’s car is more successful.
After a season blighted by inconsistency and Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz struggling to get a handle on their 2023 car, Ferrari have had an upturn in form in the last two races.
On Sunday, Sainz won in Singapore to deliver Ferrari their first win since the 2022 Austrian GP and that came on the back of a third and fourth-placed finish for him and Leclerc at the Italian GP.
Leclerc hopes the recent learning and further tests the team can do in the remaining seven races of this season will ensure Ferrari hit the ground running in 2024.
“We learnt plenty during Monza especially about our weaknesses,” Leclerc said in the build-up to the Singapore GP weekend.
“After Monza we understood more things which are good for this year even though it will be a small step in the right direction but mostly for designing next year’s car which is positive.
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“First of all the 2024 project is very different to the car we have this year. And with everything we’ve learnt so far it reaffirms that it’s a good choice what we’ve gone for next year.
“The more we learn, the better it is for doing the last few details for next year’s car. It’s super important and it was really good to understand that before the end of the season as we still have quite a few races so we can maybe push a bit more in that direction.
“There were things we tested in Monza to make sure that it was really the case, and it was. So Zandvoort and Monza we learnt a lot and that is good for this year even though I don’t think it will turn our season around, for sure not. It’s a good step forwards and for next year this is a really good step forwards.
“It will be easy to say that we’ve understood everything now. We understood good things in the last few races, whether this is all or not it’s difficult to say until we’ve actually achieved our development programme and confirmed it was that. So I’m not confident this is everything we had to find to close the gap to Red Bull but it’s a step in the right direction for sure.”
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Vasseur optimistic Ferrari won’t repeat Mercedes’ error
With Ferrari embarking on a new philosophy for 2024, team principal Fred Vasseur is confident they will not suffer a similar fate to what Mercedes have had this year.
Following a stronger finish to the 2022 season that included a win for George Russell in Brazil, the Silver Arrows opted to stick with their “zero-sidepod” concept for 2023.
However, their lack of performance at the start of the year saw Mercedes make the decision to ditch their philosophy after the season-opening Bahrain GP, with a major redesign arriving in Monaco.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits their W14 remains a “surprise box” as they start developing next year’s W15, but Vasseur is optimistic the learnings Ferrari are making from the SF23 will stand them in good stead for 2024.
“I prefer to do good results than bad results,” Vasseur said. “For sure this will help for the future – it’s a better understanding of the car, better understanding of the set-up of the car.
“I would say mainly it is a step forwards in terms of confidence for everybody and this is the best way to prepare the future.”
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However, Vasseur stressed Ferrari must not get ahead of themselves in thinking they will suddenly be world championship contenders as there is still a gap to make up to regularly be challenging Red Bull for victories.
He continued: “I think we have to stay calm. We know that when we had a tough [run of results] to not draw conclusions that everything is going badly and that we have to change everything and it’s not that after two weekends that we are world champion.
“We have to stay calm, we need to keep the same approach, to try and develop step by step. But there is nothing magic in this business and you won’t find a bullet for four or five tenths – if you want to do a step you have to do tonnes of small steps and it is what I think I have appreciated into the direction of the team after a tough weekend.
“And also into the confidence, because I think it was probably in Zandvoort that we unlocked something on the understanding of the set-up and we build up the pace of Monza, part of this in Zandvoort, and probably a large part of the pace this weekend.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Japanese GP schedule
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Thursday September 21
- 5am: Drivers’ Press Conference
- 10.30am: Drivers’ Press Conference repeat
Friday September 22
- 3am: Japanese GP Practice One (Session starts 3.30am)
- 6.45am: Japanese GP Practice Two (Session starts 7am)
- 8.45am: The F1 Show: Japan
- 10am: Japanese GP Practice One highlights
- 11.15am: Japanese GP Practice Two highlights
Saturday September 23
- 3.15am: Japanese GP Practice Three (Session starts 3.30am)*
- 6am: Japanese GP Qualifying build-up*
- 7am: Japanese GP Qualifying*
- 9am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
- 9.30am: Japanese GP Qualifying highlights
Sunday September 24
- 4.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Japanese GP build-up*
- 6am: THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX*
- 8am: Chequered Flag: Japanese GP reaction*
- 9am: Ted’s Notebook
- 9.30am: Japanese GP race replay
- 12pm: Japanese GP highlights
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Get ready to set those early alarms as Formula 1 now heads to Suzuka for the Japanese GP. Watch all sessions live on Sky Sports F1 from September 22-24. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW. Cancel anytime
