Charles Leclerc completed Ferrari’s morning programme during the first half of the second day of private testing in Barcelona. The Monegasque driver was at the wheel of the SF-26 despite the arrival of rain, with Ferrari continuing its planned work. Here are the details of the on-track activity carried out by the Maranello team.
The team decided to take to the track only on the second available day of the private Barcelona tests, which run from 26 to 30 January, given that all teams are allowed to use just three days in total. Ferrari completed the morning half-session, with Charles Leclerc driving the SF-26 even in wet conditions.
As rain was expected today at the Catalan circuit, several teams chose to withdraw and move their programmes to tomorrow or the following days. Among them were Mercedes, Audi, Cadillac, Alpine, Haas and McLaren. Only Red Bull and Ferrari took to the track, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc respectively.
The possibility is also being evaluated that Lewis Hamilton could skip today’s afternoon session due to the weather. Rain did indeed arrive during the morning, and as a result, the Monegasque completed several laps on a wet track to gather data. Below is a breakdown of the laps completed and the work carried out by the Maranello-based squad.
Leclerc not stopped by the rain, 64 laps completed with the SF-26
Charles Leclerc was the first to take to the track shortly after the green light at 9:00 a.m. The SF-26 was fitted with medium compound tyres (C2), and Leclerc completed an installation lap to check that all components were functioning correctly, before moving on to an 11-lap stint.
The Italian team also painted the car with flow-vis paint in order to collect data related to aerodynamic airflow behaviour. Charles Leclerc’s best lap time was a 1:20.8, as reported by SoyMotor.com. Yesterday’s fastest lap was set by Isack Hadjar with a time of 1:18.159.
Around 10:35 a.m., rain fell on the Catalan circuit, forcing the teams still running to wait for conditions to stabilize. Ferrari then fitted full wet tyres and completed several laps on the wet track with car number 16. The Monegasque started with a lap time of 1:46.0 and progressively reduced it to a 1:32.0 as the amount of standing water on the asphalt decreased.
The fastest dry lap of the day was set by Max Verstappen with a 1:19.578 on soft compound tyres (C3). Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, stopped the clock at 1:20.8 during the morning session on medium tyres (C2). In total, the Ferrari driver completed 64 laps.
However, lap times should not be considered representative, as performance was not the focus of the work. Ferrari’s programme was not affected by any technical issues, which represents another positive sign following the 198 laps accumulated yesterday by Haas and Cadillac using Ferrari power units.
Lewis Hamilton is expected to take to the track during the afternoon session, scheduled from 14:00 to 18:00, weather permitting. If he does run, he will be assisted by Bryan Bozzi, Charles Leclerc’s current race engineer.
Ferrari is also awaiting FIA validation to introduce several components that will be part of an extensive update package. This development is expected to result in an SF-26 with more aggressive bodywork shapes and a new floor.
Ferrari’s programme is almost certain to change, with the team expected to return to the track on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 January, skipping Wednesday 28 January.
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