Jock Clear says new car's development on right path; Former Mercedes engineer says move to Ferrari is a "dream come true"
Friday 18 March 2016 10:46, UK
New Ferrari recruit Jock Clear says the necessary performance to enjoy a strong season is in their SF16-H car - and their challenge now is to exploit it.
The new F1 campaign got off to an inconclusive start in Melbourne on Friday as intermittent rain dogged both practice sessions. Although reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton set the pace for Mercedes, Ferrari were rarely on track when conditions were at their best.
The Italian team have made a series of significant revisions to their car for 2016 in a bid to catch Mercedes and Clear, who finally joined the Scuderia in January from their chief rivals after a year's gardening leave, believes they are where they want to be with the SF16-H's early development.
"The goal is to win races and hopefully that delivers winning championships," he said.
"We're developing as fast as we can and our immediate goal is to get the maximum out of what we developed over the winter and to deliver the performance we know is in this car in the best way we can.
"That comes down to the drivers and the race team, but the guys who put us in that position back at the factory are still pushing on and developing. There will be more developments to come and we will see whether that is enough to beat the opposition.
"But certainly we are very comfortable with the way the team's working at the moment. The rate of development is where we want it to be and we will continue to try and develop that."
The experienced Clear, who has been part of world title-winning teams in each of the last three decades, has joined Ferrari in a senior engineering capacity and praised technical director James Allison, who combined the two roles last season, for the foundations he has laid.
"I've inherited a team in a very good position," he said. "Yes, we know we can always improve, but I'm hugely impressed with the race team I've inherited.
"James Allison's done a hell of a job getting the guys motivated and positive. There is a lot of positivity in the team, so that's not taken much of my stress."
Clear, whose F1 career began in the late 1980s, had long worked for some of Ferrari's fiercest rivals. The Briton was race engineer to Jacques Villeneuve at Williams when the Canadian beat Michael Schumacher to the 1997 title, and was most recently Lewis Hamilton's senior performance engineer at Mercedes.
But, following his switch from F1's reigning champions, Clear admitted: "It's great to be wearing red.
"Obviously when you get into motorsport there is one name that is synonymous with motorsport at the highest level and that is Ferrari.
"We have huge respect for all our opposition up and down the pit lane, and I've worked with many of the guys out there over the years, but as a young kid you dreamed about working for Ferrari and now I am. So it's a dream come true."
The first race of the 2016 F1 season, the Australian GP, is exclusively live on Sky F1. The race in Melbourne starts at 5am on Sunday March 20. Or watch for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV.
