With the foundations overhaul, Fred Vasseur admits that mileage would be the focus of the opening ‘closed’ check in Barcelona.
Apart from six – depend ’em 6 – days of pre-season testing in Bahrain in mid-February, the groups are additionally set for a ‘behind closed doorways’ check in Barcelona on the finish of late January.
Coming off the again of its first winless season since 2021, when it nonetheless managed to complete third within the standings, Ferrari heads into the game’s new period heeding the previous F1 adage of ‘to complete first, first you need to end’.
Apart from the double disqualification in China, the one time the Scuderia didn’t see the chequered flag was at Zandvoort, the place each drivers crashed out, and once more in Brazil the place each drivers suffered accident injury… if nothing else Lewis and Charles do issues in unison.
Although reliability wasn’t actually a difficulty with the SF-25, Fred Vasseur is conscious that reliability is important and due to this fact the opening check affords the chance to get as many miles on the clock as potential, very important at a time all of the groups (and producers) are getting into the unknown.
“I believe everyone will do it,” says the Frenchman. “On this scenario, crucial factor is to get mileage. It is to not chase efficiency. It is to get mileage to validate the technical alternative on the automobile by way of reliability. After which to get efficiency.”
Because it occurs, this yr’s three-day check in Bahrain noticed the Maranello outfit sixth by way of mileage (1,284 miles), simply forward of McLaren (1,281), whereas Mercedes (1,540) topped the desk and Purple Bull was tenth (1,022).
Ferrari’s 2026 contender will probably be unveiled on 23 January, adopted by the standard shakedown at Fiorano, nevertheless, the Frenchman admits that the automobile revealed to the accompaniment of pounding rock music and a lightweight present as Charles and Lewis pull again the covers is not going to be the identical as we see in Melbourne and even testing.
“I believe everyone will come to Barcelona with, not a mule automobile, however for instance a spec A,” he says.
“We’re not used to having 9 check days anymore,” he continues. “The final 4 or 5 seasons, we did three. It is a bonus,” he provides, “however it’s additionally a totally completely different program. It implies that the primary goal in this sort of season is to get the reliability.
“The primary races you had an enormous share of DNFs,” he says of the 2014 guidelines overhaul. “It implies that the primary focus in Barcelona will probably be to get mileage with the automobile, to know the reliability of the automobile, the place we now have to enhance and what we now have to react. As a result of in case you perceive one thing in Bahrain, by the second check, you will not have time to react for Australia.”
Revealing that the automobile will not be absolutely assembled till 22 January, he admits that the event targets have been “aggressive”.
“Aggressive for certain, as a result of we are going to end the meeting of the automobile the day earlier than the launch,” he says. “The launch would be the twenty third of January in Maranello. It implies that we’ll end the automobile on the twenty second. And that is aggressive, however everyone will do the identical.”
Certainly, it’s already taken as learn that, as has been the case lately, most notably this yr’s much-hyped occasion on the O2, that each one we’re actually going to see on the numerous launches is the liveries… and even they’re now topic to vary all through the season.
