In just over two weeks, Formula 1 will start the new season. The teams are gradually presenting their liveries for this year. Ferrari is now pushing ahead: The Italian racing team is already letting its current cars onto the track. The team of Vice World Champion Charles Leclerc also makes big announcements.
Lots of folklore and great hope: Ferrari presented its car for the new Formula 1 season on Valentine's Day and finally wants to end its dry spell in 2023. The SF-23 was unveiled at the Ferrari headquarters in Maranello a few hundred Tifosi and has already done a few laps: Charles Leclerc took the first exit on the company's own track in Fiorano, then teammate Carlos Sainz climbed into the cockpit.
"I can't wait for the season to start," said Vice World Champion Leclerc. Unlike the competition, some of which only showed pictures of their new paintwork, Ferrari went unusually far with the presentation - and has made some plans.
"After two difficult years, 2022 was a good step forward, but we only finished second in the drivers' and teams' championships," said Leclerc: "We've now tackled the car's weaknesses and we want the title." Because there is a sad anniversary for the most successful racing team in Formula 1 history: the 15th year without a world title. Ferrari last won the manufacturers' championship in 2008, and in 2007 Kimi Raikkonen brought the last drivers' title to Italy.
Fred Vasseur replaces Mattia Binotto as the new team boss and the Frenchman was the one to issue the motto. "Ferrari First," he said, which of the two drivers ended up in front was secondary. Leclerc got off to a strong start last year, but ended up being clearly beaten by world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.
The SF-23 is now an evolution of last year's car, with changes to the front wing and sidepods. The wings also catch the eye for other reasons: As in the 1980s and 90s, they are black again - and the rear wing does not have a sponsor's lettering on it, but the name that obliges to success: Ferrari.
