The second day of the first pre-season test at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit saw Charles Leclerc make his official debut at the wheel of the SF90, following on from the two laps he completed during the filming day on Sunday. The Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow driver completed a total of 157 laps; 73 in the morning, a further 84 in the afternoon. The Monegasque driver got in the car at 9 on the dot but the session was immediately red-flagged and he had to wait almost half an hour before going out on track.
Consistent lap times. – Charles Leclerc soon got to grips with the SF90, producing consistent lap times, which was useful for the engineers as they evaluated different parameters on the car in race trim. His best time of 1’18”247 was set just before the lunch break.
Happy Leclerc. “I am very happy with the way today went,” were the Monegasque driver’s first comments as he got out of the car at the end of the day. “Despite some red flag interruptions, we were able to get through all our programme and to do 157 laps, which has produced a lot of useful data. In terms of feeling, I quickly felt comfortable with the SF90 and I have to say I really enjoyed myself. Emotion? There’s always going to be some when you get into a Ferrari, but today I put that to one side because I had a job to do for the team. Let’s hope we keep going like this over the next few days, because it’s important to make the most of the few on-track testing opportunities we have.”
Vettel once again. This first pre-season test continues at the Barcelona circuit until Thursday. Tomorrow, Sebastian Vettel will be once again behind the wheel of the SF90, before handing back to Leclerc for the final day. Next week the Spanish track hosts the final four days of testing before the Formula 1 season gets underway in Australia on 17 March.
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