Ferrari SF-26 steps up the pace as Charles Leclerc pushes in Barcelona tests. Ferrari shows encouraging signs during the final morning of Barcelona testing.

Ferrari, Leclerc starts to ‘push’ in Barcelona testing: what happened in the first half of the day

The final morning session of the Barcelona tests has come to an end, with Ferrari beginning its work programme as Charles Leclerc started to ‘push’ on track. Here are all the details from the first part of the day.

Ferrari took to the track during the morning session with Charles Leclerc to open the final day of the Barcelona tests, which will conclude later today at 6:00 pm. Once again, the Scuderia from Maranello was able to carry out its planned programme without any major issues, and the overall feeling is that Ferrari may have decided to increase the pace slightly compared to the previous days.

So far, Ferrari’s Barcelona pre-season tests have gone relatively well. The SF-26 has not shown any reliability problems, a factor that has certainly helped the Maranello-based team to continue its planned work programme without interruptions. Yesterday alone, Ferrari completed another 174 laps. Lewis Hamilton will now be the one to bring the Barcelona shakedown to a close, after which the team will return to Maranello to analyse the data collected over these days before flying to Bahrain.

Is Ferrari starting to raise the pace? Leclerc completes 79 laps

During the Barcelona morning session, Ferrari completed a total of 79 laps with Charles Leclerc. According to the latest information coming from Spain, the Monegasque driver managed to get close to the best times of the week, which were set yesterday by George Russell in the Mercedes with a lap of 1:16.445. Driver number 16 initially ran on medium tyres before switching to the softest compound.

Of course, lap times are not yet truly meaningful, as teams are still not actively searching for outright performance. However, the combination of lap times and the work carried out on track may suggest that some teams have started to push a little more. Ferrari, in particular, could have decided to focus slightly more on performance-related aspects. Naturally, this remains an interpretation and not a confirmed fact.

It is also worth highlighting the impressive number of laps completed by Oliver Bearman with Haas, who ran for a total of 105 laps. This is especially encouraging considering that the VF-26 is powered by a Ferrari power unit, which once again appears to be proving its reliability. On the other hand, Cadillac continues to face difficulties, completing just 33 laps with Valtteri Bottas during the morning session.

To make sure you do not miss anything from the afternoon session as well, be sure to save this link and stay up to date with all the latest developments from Barcelona.

Morning classification:

Leclerc: 1:16.653 (79 laps)
Piastri: 1:17.446 (79 laps)
Verstappen: 1:18.285 (69 laps)
Bearman: 1:18.423 (105 laps)
Gasly: 1:19.754 (78 laps)
Bortoleto: 1:20.179 (64 laps)
Alonso: 1:20.795 (49 laps)
Bottas: 1:22.790 (33 laps)