“Next year we will have fun, you will see,” Mattia Binotto told his driver Charles Leclerc over the radio as last season came to a close in Abu Dhabi. Ferrari’s team principal could not have known quite how prophetic his words were to prove but Leclerc’s beaming smile and the infectious joie de vivre he has demonstrated in his driving leaves no doubt as to just quite what a blast he is having. The team have delivered for Leclerc then but now face the altogether more serious business of turning fun into Formula One glory.
Two years ago Ferrari endured a torrid season: their car, with which they would celebrate their 1,000th F1 grand prix at Mugello, was a howler. They failed to win a race and finished sixth in the constructors’ championship, a nadir to which they had not sunk for 40 years. Last season there was an improvement to third but only in a midfield fight far from the dominating Red Bull and Mercedes competition.
