Leclerc: New Ferrari F1 car "feels good" after filming day run

Charles Leclerc says his first impressions of Ferrari's new SF-23 Formula 1 car are encouraging after he completed a short demonstration run at the Fiorano test track on Tuesday.

Leclerc: New Ferrari F1 car "feels good" after filming day run

Just moments after Ferrari's new F1 challenger was revealed at Maranello, Leclerc took to the circuit to complete two laps.

Running live on camera, Leclerc had little trouble getting up to speed as he briefly explored the potential of the new car, and he sounded upbeat afterwards.

"It feels good," said Leclerc. "I mean the first kilometres with this new project after doing so many kilometres on the simulator, it feels special. So everything went smoothly.

"Obviously with two laps it's difficult to go into details but I already gave my feedback once I was in the car there to the engineers to get the first feeling. The car was running well, smooth, so yeah, everything went really well."

Leclerc won the right to run first in the SF-23 after team boss Fred Vasseur held a coin toss between the Monegasque driver and team-mate Carlos Sainz.

The deal was that whoever got to drive the car first would get two laps, while the second driver would get three tours in total.

This strict limit on running was to ensure that Ferrari fully complied with F1's testing restrictions.

PLUS: Can Ferrari's new car topple Red Bull's modern F1 dominance?

Rather than electing to use up one of the two valuable 100km filming days that the team has at its disposal for the launch, Ferrari was instead able to run the car under what is classified as the 'demonstration events' rules.

Ferrari SF-23

Ferrari SF-23

Photo by: Ferrari

This meant that, as long as the team did not exceed 15 kilometres of running in its current car, then its filming day allocation would remain intact.

With Fiorano's lap being 2.997 kilometres long, the five laps between both drivers would ensure Ferrari could complete the first run without going over the demonstration event limit.

Vasseur was on hand for his first Ferrari team launch, as he was clear that he would only be satisfied this year with success.

Read Also:

Asked about his first weeks in charge at the squad, he said: "So far, it's intense, as you can imagine. You can feel the responsibility for the team, [but] it's a great honour.

"At the end of the day, I think the most important is to be successful. We will have to deliver, and I don't want to be very happy because I'm at Ferrari. The most important is to win and the challenge is in front of us."

shares
comments

Related video

Ferrari reveals new SF-23 car for upcoming F1 season

Ferrari planning ‘small adjustments’ to F1 strategy processes for 2023

Why Red Bull’s biggest F1 adversary is now itself

Why Red Bull’s biggest F1 adversary is now itself

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Jonathan Noble

Why Red Bull’s biggest F1 adversary is now itself Why Red Bull’s biggest F1 adversary is now itself

How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri

How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri

What Perez's Jeddah joy means for F1’s 2023 hopes for a real title fight

What Perez's Jeddah joy means for F1’s 2023 hopes for a real title fight

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Alex Kalinauckas

What Perez's Jeddah joy means for F1’s 2023 hopes for a real title fight What Perez's Jeddah joy means for F1’s 2023 hopes for a real title fight

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Alex Kalinauckas

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

How Perez kept Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP surge at bay

How Perez kept Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP surge at bay

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

How Perez kept Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP surge at bay How Perez kept Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP surge at bay

The enormous job facing F1 for its Vegas gamble to pay off

The enormous job facing F1 for its Vegas gamble to pay off

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
GP Racing

The enormous job facing F1 for its Vegas gamble to pay off The enormous job facing F1 for its Vegas gamble to pay off

Testing times for Vasseur, but the true challenge at Ferrari is about to come

Testing times for Vasseur, but the true challenge at Ferrari is about to come

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Jonathan Noble

Testing times for Vasseur, but the true challenge at Ferrari is about to come Testing times for Vasseur, but the true challenge at Ferrari is about to come

How the F1 driver expression saga continues to have a Lineker-like problem

How the F1 driver expression saga continues to have a Lineker-like problem

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Alex Kalinauckas

How the F1 driver expression saga continues to have a Lineker-like problem How the F1 driver expression saga continues to have a Lineker-like problem