SENT TO IMOLA
“Being on the track 90 kilometers from the factory gives a strange feeling.” Charles Leclerc pulled the red winter jumpsuit out of the closet that he hadn’t even worn during testing this year. The cold caused disasters in the countryside around the Imola racetrack. “It was warmer in November,” he recalls. The first home Grand Prix of the year will run on Sunday, barely an hour’s drive from the apartment he has near Maranello to face meetings with Ferrari engineers in person. And to play padel with teammate Carlos Sainz, who was also transferred to the Via Emilia. Home-circuit in less than an hour, without airport transfers or endless journeys. Leclerc will race again on familiar roads on May 23 in Montecarlo, where he was born and resides, and then on September 12 in Monza (Italy is the only country to host two races in 2021).
the prediction
Imola is in the heart of the Valley of engines: here are born Ferrari and AlphaTauri, Lamborghini and Maserati, Ducati and Pagani. The calendar overturned by Covid offered Italy the second race of the season, dedicated to Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna. The prediction is easy: Verstappen seeks revenge on Hamilton, and Red Bull on Mercedes: they will be the protagonists of the race and the championship. Ferrari is part of the group that will compete for third place among the manufacturers along with McLaren, Aston Martin and Alpine. The AlphaTauri from Faenza, already winner at Monza in 2020, may be one of the revelations of the season.
«It is the first time that I am racing in Italy with an Italian car, so it will be a special weekend, even if I had dreamed of it differently – explains Sainz -. I was hoping to run in front of a hundred thousand fans, too bad there will be none. Made in Italy? First of all, it reminds me of Ferrari, then the many important brands that support us ». In Bahrain, Charles had finished in sixth place and Carlos in eighth: the placings in the points are precious, but the Valley of the engines deserves more.
important news
The Ferrari SF21 is presented at Imola with important innovations: the part under the nose and the rear diffuser have been redesigned to increase the aerodynamic load, the new wings to reduce it, so as to improve overall efficiency.
It will not be enough to win, but they are the foundations of the 2022 project, the one which, in the intentions, will have to bring the Red back to the leading role. In the short-term goals there is a return to success, because a second year of fasting would be unbearable. Sainz continues the learning process, “because McLaren was different to drive and I have to take confidence to get to the limit.”
Leclerc hopes sooner or later to draw the wild card in a race full of unexpected events as was the last Italian Grand Prix won by Gasly. And above all, he invests in the future: “I firmly believe in the long-term project, Ferrari was the right choice”. It is his promise. –
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