Ferrari's Rising Hope: Closing the Gap to Red Bull

The usual super Red Bull, but also a Ferrari as the second force, more hopeful and a bit closer to the world champion team. The Maranello team flies away from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia with a load of optimism after Charles Leclerc's first seasonal podium and the promising performance that bodes well for the future of the very young Oliver Bearman, who replaced Carlos Sainz stopped by an emergency appendicitis surgery. The Spaniard, already at the paddock during the race to cheer on the Scuderia, will do everything to return to the track in two weeks in Australia. At Albert Park in Melbourne, Ferrari will present itself with the goal of continuing to reduce the gap from Red Bull, a goal not impossible as explained by Leclerc, author in Jeddah of the fastest lap in the race and of a crescendo finish: 'The pace itself was more or less as I expected,' said the Monegasque Ferrari driver - 'We can't point the finger at something specific, because even if it's about 3-4 tenths, which are a lot in the world of motorsport, you also see that you gain 5 hundredths here and there. We have to continue working as we have done in the last few months. From last year to this year, the team that has made the biggest step forward is ours, and this is thanks to the result of all the work done by the guys at home and on the track. We are in a positive moment, we must continue to work in this direction and I am sure that the satisfactions, which are the victory and beating Red Bull, will come shortly.' Leclerc then praises the young Bearman: 'Oliver did an exceptional job: debuting in a Formula 1 weekend starting from the third free practice session, without knowing the car well, on one of the most challenging circuits of the championship and being so quickly fast, is something incredible. It was fantastic to see him happy and excited, he materialized a great weekend.' And the person directly involved after the embrace at the end of the race with his father in the paddock received a series of compliments including that of the future Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton (he finished behind the rookie) during the return lap he applauded him: 'One of my heroes, Vettel, wrote to me before the start - revealed the 18-year-old Briton elected driver of the day after the GP of Arabia - I thank Seb, it was really nice. It was a great emotion to race my first Formula 1 race with Scuderia Ferrari. Obviously, it was challenging from a physical point of view, especially towards the end, when I had behind me Lando (Norris, ed) and Lewis (Hamilton, ed) with Soft tires.' To Leclerc's optimism then echoes that of Vasseur: 'A year ago, however, between Bahrain and Jeddah we were 1.1 seconds behind, while today at 5-6 tenths. We have halved the distance. The fact that we managed to do the fastest lap at the end, while Norris and Hamilton were pushing with the softs, is another sign that we have made progress in tire management. The performance comes from everything, there is no single secret. We need to improve in all areas. Aerodynamics for sure is the key. We have new parts coming, like everyone, but the important thing is that these work in the car. We are fully focused on the fact that we have to recover - concludes Vasseur - We have to continue to push and develop.'