Ferrari is heading into 2021 to recover from its worst season in 40 years, when it dropped to sixth in the constructors’ championship last season, scooping just three podiums.
The team struggled with an annoying SF1000 car that was hampered by a lack of straight line speed due to its poor performance part and sluggish aerodynamic concept.
Ferrari also started the season late after announcing that Sebastian Vettel would leave the team in late 2020 and sign Carlos Sainz Jr. as his replacement.
When the team realized the reality of Ferrari’s plight early last year, a “strange” atmosphere arose in Maranello, according to Leclerc.
Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“At first there was a strange atmosphere in 2020 where we saw the reality that it was much worse than expected,” said Leclerc when Autosport asked about the atmosphere at Ferrari.
“There was a time when it wasn’t great, but very quickly the mentality changed and there was a lot of motivation to try to get back to where we want to be.
“I think that has not changed this year. With Carlos he also brings experience from other teams, that he is very interesting and also gives us new worlds to explore.
“So that’s very interesting, but I think the mentality of the team itself is still as motivated as it was last year and really ready to push for better things and better days to come soon.”
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Ferrari was encouraged by its performance with the new SF21 car through testing last week in Bahrain. Team boss Mattia Binotto explained that the straight-line speed will no longer be a disadvantage in the 2021 season.
When asked about the team’s performance gains from pre-season testing, Binotto said he was happy with how the data matched Ferrari’s expectations at the factory.
“We tried to develop as much as possible on the back of the car,” said Binotto.
“It was more important for us to understand the correlation with the wind tunnel and the simulations, that is, to collect and compare data.
“I think we’re pretty happy with the correlation, which means that at least we have a good basis for the next simulations or possible developments.
“Correlation was a key factor [test] Days. So far, at least, it’s been going pretty well. “
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