Image courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari
Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are realistic over what their team can achieve next season as the team launched their 2015 challenger.
Ferrari are heading into 2015 off the back of their first winless campaign in over two decades, with wholesale changes notably made in both driver and management lineups. Including Vettel replacing the now-McLaren driver Fernando Alonso.
Vettel, one of the Italian squad’s three incoming drivers, doesn’t expect his new-look team to make instant strides and stated the importance of the team having unity before setting out to challenge reigning world champions Mercedes.
“There is a lot of change going on, new people in new positions – including myself,” the quadruple world champion told the official Ferrari website, “so it always takes a bit of time to settle in until you really start to make proper progress.”
“I am confident we are going in the right direction but it would be wrong to immediately expect a lot [from] us.
“We need to remember we are coming from a 2014 season where there was one team very dominant, so it will be very difficult to arrive there from the beginning. For us the main target is to start to really work together, start to make progress, hopefully catch up more and more as the season progresses.”
The German was cautious over Ferrari’s chances of fighting for race wins when asked if he would be satisfied if the team won in 2015, and said a good pre-season could be the foundation for such an achievement.
“I think we would be happy” Vettel replied, “but of course we would be happier if we win more. As I said you have to be realistic.
“I think the most important thing is that we start getting into the groove quickly in winter testing and start to make progress. If the situation is like last year, it will be very difficult to fight for victories, but of course that is our goal. That is why we are here; we are not here to be second.”
Vettel’s team-mate Raikkonen agreed with the former world champion’s comments, adding that the team do their maximum and have pre-season testing be a true reflection of where they’re heading before anything else.
“Obviously we want to be as strong as we can, but it’s too early to say where we’re going to be,” the 2007 world champion said. “As long as we do our things 100 percent, work as one team to push things forward and keep building what we have over the winter, that’s the starting point – and then the results should come.
He also spoke of his optimism about his partnership with Vettel for next season, hopeful of being able to push each other and move Ferrari forward.
“There’s no point from my side to put any goals yet: start from the first test and go forward from there. It will be interesting working with [Vettel], but I’m sure we have a good understanding of each other. The aim is to push the team forward and do everything for Ferrari, and then obviously we try to fight against each other, but in a good way.”
