While the lap times from the first day of winter testing in Barcelona shouldn’t be looked into too much, Ferrari made a strong impression. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz quickly looked comfortable driving the F1-75, and the Scuderia clocked 157 laps, a record among ten teams.
“It’s always a really exciting moment, at the start of every season” said Leclerc. “It was the first time we might really push in our new car and it was really good to be back behind the wheel.”
“We did all the testing we wanted and ran our full program without issue which is a good thing for a new car. I can’t wait to get back on track tomorrow.”
“It’s impossible to have a clear picture at the moment, so we have to stay focused and keep working hard. We did a lot of laps, more than any other team today, and that’s a positive point on which we’re going to lean on.”
Since he does not yet have a balance sheet to draw from the new Ferrari, Leclerc wants to be cautious: “The initial feeling is not bad, but we shouldn’t get carried away with today’s schedule because it’s the early days and everyone is still hiding their true form.”
“Real sensations” behind the wheel for Sainz
His replacement this followingnoon in the seat of the Italian single-seater, Sainz, was also satisfied with this first concrete run. After the Fiorano and Barcelona shakedowns, he was happy to be able to drive normally in these early winter tests.
“Today was the first time I was in the car with a solid plan for rolling, unlike the previous times when we were basically doing shakedowns,” note the Spanish
“We were finally able to push a bit and start to learn those F1s. The time sheet doesn’t matter at this early stage, but it was very positive to do a good number of laps and to have some real feeling behind the wheel.”
“We still have a lot of work to do, but today we might already start to feel some differences compared to last year, although in terms of getting used to it, I don’t think it will. take too long.”
“Of course, the last tenths will be difficult to find, but that’s what’s interesting!”
“Anyway, that’s not the goal here at Barcelona because we still have more testing before the first race. It was a good first day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
