Charles Leclerc says the Ferrari SF1000 feels quicker around the corners for the 2020 F1 season unlike its predecessor SF90, which was fastest on straights.
No F1 car is perfect, and therefore, all cars have areas of weakness, as well as stronger elements. For example, Ferrari had its 2019 challenger supremely fast on the straights, yet struggled in the corners against its main competitor, Mercedes.
However, when looking at 2020’s Ferrari F1 car, Monegasque driver Leclerc has said that turns are where the vast majority of improvements have been made on the SF1000. Albeit, he did admit that this hurts straight-line speeds, which was evident.
This particular knock-on effect has been seen in the speed traps, as well as the sector times in the laps. The idea is likely for Ferrari to lose some pace on the straight and have more in the corners, so that they can balance out on overall terms.
“It’s always difficult for a driver to know whether it’s the drag or the engine, but obviously going quicker around the corners, it’s probably the drag that makes us go a bit slower on the straight, which was the goal at the end for this year,” said Leclerc to media including FormulaRapida.net.
“I think on that, we have achieved our goal. We need to wait and see for the overall performance of the car, but yes, I agree that we are going around the corners quicker than we did last year, so that’s a positive, and we need to keep working on these cars to unlock more performance.”
Contrasting this highlight, Leclerc also spoke of the SF1000’s achilles’ heel. On this front, the young race-winning driver pointed out balance on the exit of corners. However, he did admit that this lack of balance was not uncommon during F1 pre-season testing.
“I think the biggest trend is the speed around the corners, and I think the biggest, well, the weakness, I would not call it a weakness, but for now we still need to work on the balance of the car and try to put the balance a bit more together from entry to exit of the corners, but that’s something that is normal during testing,” said Leclerc.
“Then to see the proper weaknesses, I think we’ll have to wait and see for Melbourne qualifying once everyone is at the same fuel level, when everyone is trying to push their car at the maximum, then obviously we’ve got the data of everyone in the paddock, so it will be pretty clear where we are.”
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The story was edited by Darshan Chokhani
