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Added on the 04/02/2021 07:47:40 - Copyright : Auto Moto EN
At 9.30 the shutters rolled up on the pit garage at the Fiorano track and a minute later Carlos Sainz was out for his first lap at the wheel of a Ferrari Formula 1 car. Naturally enough, the 26 year-old from Madrid ran his usual F1 number 55 on the SF71H, the 2018 car, as he completed more than a hundred laps on his maiden outing with the Scuderia. Carlos worked with the engineers he had already met in several meetings held over the past weeks and also got to know the mechanics and the car procedures, many of which will also be relevant to this year’s SF21, which he and Charles Leclerc will drive for the first time at the pre-season test in Bahrain during the second week in March.
It was a St. Valentine’s Day to remember for Scuderia Ferrari fans around the world. At around lunchtime, the SF23, the Maranello marque’s challenger for the coming Formula 1 season, was unveiled at the company’s Fiorano track. It is the 69th car built by Ferrari to compete in motor racing’s blue riband category, which starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix on 5 March.The day was full of surprises, starting with the presence of 500 fans in a grandstand specially erected at the Fiorano track, making this the first real launch to be staged after two years of virtual car presentations. Before the launch, the drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz went to greet the crowd which included many members of the various Scuderia Ferrari Clubs and students from Muner, the Motorvehicle University of Emilia-Romagna, and some from the Alfredo Ferrari Higher Education Institute, along with their teachers.
Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow presented the 2021 team in an on-line event which involved not only team partners and the media but also over 300 fans linked up from all over the world to see Charles Leclerc’s and Carlos Sainz’s first official appearance of the year in Scuderia colours.The event began with a short film presenting this season’s driver pairing, as they chatted away. There was obvious chemistry between them, as had already been seen after the Fiorano test a few weeks back, when they drove a 2018 F1 car. After the film, Charles, Carlos and Team Principal Mattia Binotto were seen in a studio setting in the Ferrari Museum in Maranello.
Scuderia Ferrari’s five days of testing at Fiorano ended today, with Mick Schumacher driving in the morning and test driver Callum Ilott taking over for the afternoon. No fewer than seven drivers took part in the test: apart from Mick and Callum, the others were the official race drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the latter making his track debut with the Prancing Horse, Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong. Giuliano Alesi also bid farewell to the Ferrari Driver Academy, having his first drive in a Formula 1 car, 30 years on from his father Jean’s debut with the team. Over the five days, the SF71H completed over 500 laps, equivalent to more than 1500 kilometres. It was a useful experience for the drivers and also for the team, enabling the crew to get back in the swing of racing, testing all the procedures for the coming season, which at least for the first part will be the same as last year’s, with personnel split into sub-groups and bubbles and having to wear masks as part of the Covid-19 protocols.
Team Audi Sport received a warm welcome in its home country after winning the Dakar Rally. At the Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm sites, the winners Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz and their teammates Emil Bergkvist and Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger appeared before the workforce. The Board of Management of AUDI AG also welcomed the successful motorsport drivers, who drove their electrically powered off-road prototypes around the two factory sites and signed numerous autographs.
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