The 2024 Formula 1 season will officially begin in just a few hours. Tomorrow marks the first of the three official test days provided by the FIA, leading to the season-opening Grand Prix next week in Bahrain. Yesterday, McLaren and Haas were already on the track, completing another 200km of a filming day after the one used at Silverstone for their car’s shakedown.
Today, Mercedes, Alpine, and Williams will take advantage of their first promotional event. It’s preparatory work for tomorrow, aiming to start the tests without surprises and with some data already collected. As usual, Ferrari covered the initial 200km at Fiorano the day after the presentation, receiving positive feedback from the SF-24.
Ferrari confirms the daily driver rotation
Each team is free to set its test work program without a mileage limit. Moreover, they can decide how to divide the use of drivers over the three days. The Italian side typically chooses to put both of its drivers on the track every day, alternating them between morning and afternoon sessions. Some teams avoid this to prevent the complication of changing seats and car settings midway through the day for the mechanics. Still, it’s very beneficial for the drivers to get accustomed to the car more quickly – driving it every day – and for the engineers to work by listening to the feedback from both drivers following a unique and shared work plan.
As with any choice, there are pros and cons, but Ferrari’s methodology in this case maintains continuity with the past. Starting the work tomorrow morning at 8 AM Central European Standard Time will be Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz debuted the SF-24 in both the shakedown and the filming day, while this time it will be the Monegasque covering the first kilometers of the day. In the afternoon, it will be the Spaniard’s turn. Unless there are changes, the following day is expected to follow the same pattern but with reversed shifts. Therefore, Carlos Sainz will open the day, and Charles Leclerc will close it, as confirmed by F1 experts Giuliano Duchessa & Paolo D’Alessandro for formu1a.uno.
On the last day, they will follow the work plan from the first day: Charles Leclerc in the morning, and Carlos Sainz will conclude the tests in the afternoon at the Sakhir track. The Maranello team has, however, established a non-restrictive work plan, meaning that if circumstances require it, the original program can be modified without issues.
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