Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel

Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel

torstai 25. helmikuuta 2016

The first impression of the SF16-H

In my previous blog post I promised to tell you everything about the Ferrari F1 car launch. The brand new Ferrari F1 car named SF16-H was launched on February 19th. As one of the 10 winners in the ReadySetRed competition I was looking forward to this event with more excitement than ever before. However, the event turned out different from what I had expected.

I, alongside the 9 other ReadySetRed winners, were online on Skype to take part in the car launch. However, due to technical issues, I was unable to see the event live. I couldn´t see anything but a black screen. I could hear the Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen being interviewed and the technical key characters telling about the process of making the new car. But it was so frustrating not to see it live like expected. Although I can fully understand the technical issues as the event was worldwide and the internet connection must have been extremely overloaded.

Also I had very much looked forward to getting the chance to ask the two drivers a question live during the event. Earlier that week we had been asked to write two questions for each of these people: drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel, Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene, Power Unit Director Mattia Binotto, Technical Director James Allison and Chief Designer Simone Resta. I had spent a lot of time trying to figure out what it was what I actually wanted to ask these key figures at Ferrari. My hopes were so high that I would actually get a chance to ask something especially from Kimi and Sebastian, whom I admire so so much. However, a couple of days before the car launch Ferrari asked everyone to record one question, which they had chosen for a specific person. I was asked to record a question for the Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene. During the car launch we were told that Ferrari were going to use the recorded questions, which meant that we didn´t get the chance to ask anything from the Ferrari staff live. It was an honour to get the chance to ask Mr Arrivabene a question, I asked him what Ferrari´s strengths are compared to their rivals. Arrivabene answered with a twinkle in his eye that I should ask that again on Monday evening after the first test day ;)

But I wouldn´t be honest if I didn´t admit that I was extremely disappointed how the event turned out. I understand there are certain risks if you let fans ask questions live but since they decided to use the recorded questions, there was no reason for us to actually be online on Skype during the event. Although I have only myself to blame that I let my expectations rise so high during the competition. I had looked forward so much to getting the opportunity to ask the Ferrari drivers a question... And when it didn´t happen it really broke my heart. My common sense tells me I shouldn´t take this as seriously as I am but I feel all emotions so deeply, something that I don´t always like about myself but there´s very little I can do about it. So the past week could be characterized with heart-rending disappointment. After this event I was hit with a thought that if winning a competition organised by Ferrari didn´t bring me the chance to talk to the drivers, what chance would I ever get to talk to them? That thought has hit me quite hard although I know that sometimes miracles do happen when you chase your dreams...

In addition to all this I had put a huge amount of effort into the ReadySetRed competition like I told you in my previous blog post. Getting up in the middle of the night every 3 hours to tweet and organising my whole day around this competition for three weeks took a lot of effort and commitment. How this live event turned out, didn´t quite meet my expectations. Although the competition itself was a memorable and exciting experience, which brought me two new friends. So it definitely was worth taking part in. All in all it was a brilliant idea from Ferrari to get fans involved in the car launch although the live event left a little to hope for.

At the moment it´s the fourth and last day of the first pre-season test session at Barcelona. During the first test days the brand new SF16-H has proved both reliable and fast, although Kimi had a fuel supply issue yesterday, which cost him a few hours. The SF16-H looks absolutely beautiful with a shortened nose, a tapered rear and the intriguing red-and-white livery. In terms of the performance it´s still early days to tell where Ferrari stands compared to their rivals but the first impression is very promising.

I´m so happy that Formula 1 is back after the long winter hibernation :D I´ll be back next week as there´ll be a surprise on the way! ;)

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