Ferrari on Shanghai challenges: 'Simulator of even greater importance'
F1 News
The race weekend in Melbourne was one for Ferrari to forget. While the Scuderia seemed extremely competitive before the weekend, it turned out to be a slightly disappointing result in Australia and, for Team Principal Fred Vasseur, the next race weekend in China cannot come soon enough.
"It’s good that we are back on track just a few days after racing in Australia, as Shanghai will give us the opportunity to turn the page and move on immediately," Vasseur looks ahead to the Chinese Grand Prix. "The Chinese track has completely different characteristics to Albert Park and with this being the first Sprint weekend of the season, it also means there are more points up for grabs."
"From a technical point of view, the work we have carried out in the Maranello simulator for this event takes on even greater importance, as we only have one hour of free practice, during which one of the tasks will be to get an initial idea of the track surface, which has been completely renewed for this year."
He then explains that one of the main tasks during that session will be to get to grips with the resurfaced track. "Charles and Lewis both like the Shanghai track and we must ensure we do everything we can to allow them to get the most out of the SF-25."
Changes ahead of China
After the Melbourne Grand Prix, Hamilton indicated that he was not yet completely comfortable in the Ferrari, and therefore planned to make some changes ahead of the race weekend in China. "I wasn't confident today, unfortunately. I will make some changes to the car and the setup next week," he mentioned to the media, including GPblog. Given that the Chinese Grand Prix falls on a sprint weekend, the seven-time World Champion will have limited time to get used to his new car.
This article has been created in collaboration with Kim Hoefnagel.
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels too!