F1 | Barcelona testing, Ferrari confirms the plan: the SF-26 will not run on the first day
Ferrari has officially confirmed its Barcelona test programme: the SF-26 will not be on track on the opening day of running. After the car’s presentation, the Scuderia has turned its focus to testing, announcing the date of the SF-26’s debut at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Prancing Horse’s new single-seater will not take part in the first day of track action, scheduled for Monday 26 January. To see the Ferrari on track, fans will have to wait until Tuesday, while the programme for the following days is still being finalised.
The Ferrari Day at Fiorano came to a close in the best possible way for the Maranello team. The brand-new Ferrari SF-26, the first Prancing Horse car born under Formula 1’s new technical cycle, completed its morning running without any issues. This represents an important success, especially in light of the rumours about potential delays that had been surrounding the team, as well as the real problems encountered by some rival competitors.
The team will now shift its full attention to Barcelona, which will host the collective shakedown scheduled from 26 to 30 January. Five days will be available to the teams, who will be able to choose three of them to run on track and collect crucial data to better understand their cars. As already officially confirmed by McLaren, Ferrari will also not be on track on Monday.
Vasseur: “The first laps were emotional”
This was confirmed by Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur, who also spoke about the first kilometres completed by the new car: “Today was an emotional day. The whole team is giving its maximum effort. We know very well the challenges that await us and we can say that today was a good day, but the final objective concerns the season ahead.”
As for the first of the three official test sessions, Ferrari has therefore confirmed the pre-test rumours. The Maranello-based team will not run from Monday, instead waiting until Tuesday 27 January to make its on-track debut in Barcelona. This is a purely strategic choice, without losing sight of the ultimate aim of this “long shakedown”: to gain the best possible understanding of the car and rack up mileage with the new Power Units.
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