Charles Leclerc hails Ferrari reliability while adapting to “strange” new technology
Charles Leclerc spoke to Sky Sport during Day 3 of the Bahrain pre-season tests. The Monegasque driver, after completing both morning and afternoon sessions yesterday, handed the wheel of the SF-26 to Lewis Hamilton today, as the British driver tackled the final day of work during the first of the two testing weeks.
Leclerc was the fastest driver in both the morning and afternoon sessions on the second day of Bahrain testing, finishing with a time of 1:34.273 ahead of Lando Norris and Oliver Bearman. The Ferrari driver completed an impressive 139 laps, second only to McLaren’s Norris, who stopped at 149 laps. Added to these are the 79 laps Charles Leclerc completed on the first day, confirming the intense workload he and Ferrari undertook in this initial phase of the season.
Leclerc’s thoughts on the tests
The Ferrari driver expressed satisfaction with the start of testing, emphasizing the importance of completing the team’s planned program without any issues:
“It’s been a positive start, we haven’t had any problems. And this is a good thing considering the new rules, because a major problem is very difficult to recover from. We completed the entire program we had in mind, all the tests we wanted to do were done, and this is a positive point. In terms of performance, it’s impossible to know because there are too many factors hiding the true performance, so it’s very difficult to understand where we stand compared to the others. Our approach isn’t what I would call safe, in the sense that there has been and continues to be incredible work in Maranello to push the car to the maximum. For now, I am happy with how things went – I’m not talking about performance, but about how we handled the tests so far. Last year was complicated, this year it’s much better.”
Leclerc also discussed the sensations of driving the new cars:
“There’s a lot of new technology. It’s nice to drive, but a bit strange. I find a lot of motivation in working to find solutions to problems I’ve never faced in my career because I’ve never driven these machines before. On track, the feeling is a bit unusual, but off track it’s very interesting and I work a lot with the engineers to find plenty of solutions.”
Charles Leclerc’s assessment of the SF-26 highlights a successful shift in Ferrari’s preparation strategy, prioritizing a robust mechanical foundation before chasing outright lap times. While the “strange” handling characteristics of the 2026 cars present a fresh challenge for the drivers, the SF-26’s reliability suggests that the engineers in Maranello have delivered a solid platform for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to refine ahead of the season opener.
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