Scuderia Ferrari HP’s drivers completed the last day on track at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, at the group shakedown organised by Formula 1. The SF-26 added 145 laps to its tally, equivalent to 675 kilometres. Charles Leclerc drove in the morning, handing over to Lewis Hamilton for the afternoon session.
Follow PaddockLines on social media: Facebook and Instagram
Morning. Leclerc began the day on the Pirelli Medium (C2) tyres, completing 49 laps. The Monegasque then ran C3 tyres for a further 16 laps. In the final phase of the morning session, Leclerc went back to the C2 compound, finishing the day with a total of 78 laps, equivalent to 363 km.
Afternoon. After the lunch break, Lewis began his session on C2 tyres, completing 44 laps doing runs of varying lengths, stopping for checks and setup adjustments in between. With 90 minutes remaining, Hamilton also went out on the C3 compound, with which he completed ten laps, before finishing the session again on C2. Over the course of the afternoon, Lewis ran 67 laps (312 km), while across the three-day shakedown the SF-26 covered 440 laps for a total of 2050 km.
Charles Leclerc: “Overall it’s been a productive shakedown. We completed our programme and managed to run a good number of laps, which was important to start understanding the car and the new systems. The first day in wet conditions was tricky, especially with a completely new car, but it turned into a valuable learning experience. The last two days were positive as well, and now the focus shifts to analysing the data and working in Maranello ahead of the Bahrain test.“
Lewis Hamilton: “It’s been a really productive and enjoyable week. There has been a huge amount of work over the winter, both personally and from everyone in the team, and it’s good to see that reflected in the mileage we’ve been able to complete without major issues. Driving in wet conditions early on was actually a valuable experience, especially with a new car, and overall it’s been a solid start. There’s still a lot to learn and plenty of work to do, but the atmosphere in the team is positive and focused. Now we’ll take everything we’ve learned, continue analysing the data and prepare carefully for the Bahrain test.“
Fred Vasseur – Team Principal: “It’s been a long week but overall a productive one. We experienced different conditions, from wet to dry, and managed to complete a significant amount of running each day, which is crucial at this stage to collect data and check reliability. We didn’t encounter any major issues, which is an important outcome. It’s still very early days and there is a lot to analyse and improve, but now we’ll return to Maranello to work through what we’ve learned and prepare for the Bahrain test, which will be more representative.“
Source: Ferrari Media Centre