F1 | Wolff hoping to see a competitive Ferrari this year: "For all of us fans of the sport Ferrari needs to be in the mix"
The Team Principal is sure that the Italian team will provide once again their fans with an entertaining season, and will be able to win races and compete in the title fight, also because of the advantage given to them by the extra wind tunnel time
Mercedes' Toto Wolff strongly believes that the historically famous Prancing Horse team will be once again at the top of the grid under the new regulations. After a harder time during the turbo hybrid generation, not always able to compete for the title and slipping back in the midfield, even ending the 2020 constructors' championship in P6, Ferrari appears to have projected a more competitive car according to early reports.
Wolff also said to selected media, including MotorLat, that an advantage for the Italian team wil be the extra wind tunnel time allotted due to their underwhelming 2020, and the consequentially more thorough aereodynamic studies for the new challenger:
"The aereodynamic, and the ability of having more wind tunnel time is, of course, something you need to bear in mind. The advantage of finishing sixth versus first, over the course of the season is in a couple of tenths, and then, of course, you need to catch up, but we are all part of these regulations, I think it's good to create competition."
In the early stages of the season, it will be tough to predict a single team dominating the field as there will be multiple factors at stake:
"We shall see where everybody is. Personally, I'm not discounting any teams, everyone could be high up in the standings at the beginning of the season, because we have seen it in 2009 with the double diffuser: if a team has innovated and discovered opportunities that could game changers, anyone could be ahead at the beginning."
Directly asked on his opinion on whether the Scuderia will be able to resume their position as title contender, Wolff is positive that they will improve thier overall form, whilst re-entering the title fight might not happen immediately:
"As a fan, I love Ferrari.They are the greatest name in Formula 1, and it cannot be that Ferrari isn't competing for race victories and titles. Winning championships is something different, many things have to come together to achieve that."
"But I think for all of us fans of the sport Ferrari needs to be in the mix, we've missed them in the last few years. The passion of everyone at Ferrari, and also for the Tifosi in Italy it's important to see that the car is competitive. So, I hope there will be a few teams this year, a few of us, able to win races and fighting hard on track," he concluded.
