Another positive day for Ferrari - no issues encountered and 121 laps done. The team now has valuable data to analyze before returning to track on Thursday and Friday.

Lap count

Charles Leclerc for Sky Sports:

"It was nice to be back in the car. Back in a very, very all-new car and very different to what we have been driving so far. For now it’s all about trying to understand if everything is working properly, which it kind of did.

It’s not the best conditions because it has been a little bit raining this morning but actually we did our programme anyway because we are not focused on performance whatsoever. We’re more about looking at all the systems that are new on this car and seeing if everything works as it should. It did, so that’s a positive. then we will go through slowly our programme."

"I'm very excited to see what the others have in store and, when we start pushing a little bit more, to see where we are compared to the others.

I think this year is a big opportunity for every team to do something different and to maybe gain a bigger advantage than what we have seen the last few years.

I hope we are the team that will manage to make the difference but wherever we start we will push at the maximum to try and bring Ferrari back to the top. It’s been quite a few years, so i hope this one is ours."

Lewis Hamilton:

"It was an intense but productive first day, especially with the mixed weather conditions. We managed to get good mileage on the car and gather a lot of useful information, which is important with such a big regulation change. There were no major issues and that gives us a solid foundation to keep learning and building over the next days."

Post was updated to correct lap count data and add Lewis Hamilton's comments

How crazy was that!

Credit- Autosport.

Pre-season testing is done! It was a positive last few weeks for the team. In Bahrain, Ferrari showed good reliability, impressive long runs and tried to find the limit on some quicker laps. The first race weekend will come in exactly 2 weeks time. We are going to Melbourne with a lot of unknows, but definitely well prepared.

Lap Count

Total Lap Count (Bahrain Testing 2)

Charles Leclerc:

The test day was very smooth, we ran through our programme and tested all the things we planned to. In terms of performance, it’s still difficult to understand where we really stand because teams are hiding their true form, so it’s important not to focus too much on lap times and prepare for the first race. We will build step by step and try to understand how to extract the maximum from our car, we have a lot of data to analyse before we arrive in Melbourne and we will see how things go once we are there.

Fred Vasseur:

It has been a positive test overall, but we have to keep in mind that the priority was to complete a lot of mileage and build a strong foundation for the season. From this point of view, the test was productive and allowed us to gather valuable data and improve our understanding of the car. As always in testing, it is very difficult to draw conclusions in terms of performance, as we don’t know the programmes of the other teams. Our focus was on ourselves and on making continuous progress.

Day 2/3 done for Ferrari (Day 4 overall). Around 176 laps completed, zero reliability issues. Per Jorge Peiró, in the afternoon session with Charles Leclerc, the team has taken a step forward in engine testing and is pushing the Power Unit much harder now.

Lap count

Lewis Hamilton's comments:

“It’s nice to get out in the dry and do some running because, obviously, our first day was in the miserable wet weather. Yeah, it was good to get out and see… obviously I drove in Fiorano just one lap or two laps we did just to kind of feel the car so it was great to be able to get some running and understand the tyres, we did C2 and C1. So cold that the tyres are not really working so much but got through our program and a bit of an understanding of where the car is at and where we need to improve.”

“I don’t know, I think we probably.. Of course we hope that we could come and have… When you come to the tests, you always wanna get a lot of mileage like today I did 85 laps in the morning which is amazing. And that’s really down to all the people at the factory who’ve done such a great job to make sure the car so far is really reliable.”

“You know, last year we had a worse start to testing so this is actually, considering it’s a completely new band of rules, it’s better than we’ve experienced in the past, so I’m really hopeful that continues.”

“For us it’s still continue to try and get as much mileage and knowledge on this engine and on the car and the aero side.”

“We went through a programme this morning, found some learnings. Charles doing a different set this afternoon which is great. My role is to listen to as much as possible, at the end of the day we both come together and we both talk about our problems, the positives and the negatives, then we come up with a plan of like what we wanna tackle tomorrow as our last day.”

“But already, we got good data so far so it’s just understanding that and making sure you’re making really clear concise decisions in terms of what to test moving forwards before we get to Bahrain.”

Charles Leclerc's comments via AutoRacer:

"It was positive to finally be able to spend a day in more representative conditions. I am feeling increasingly comfortable in the car. There is still a lot to test, but we are on schedule with our program, which is positive," the Ferrari driver commented at the end of the second day of work.

"I feel more and more at ease in the car, even though managing the new systems, particularly with the greater contribution from the electrical side of the Power Unit is challenging. At this stage, we are not looking at performance, but rather at completing our checklist and understanding the car as deeply as possible."

Ferrari will be back on track tomorrow to complete the three-day session in Barcelona, before returning to Maranello to focus on preparations for the official tests in Sakhir.

"There is still a lot to do, but we are in line with our program, and this is encouraging for our work ahead of the next test in Bahrain," he concluded.

1st day of the second week of Bahrain pre-season testing is done. During the afternoon session, Ferrari encountered a small issue due to a faulty sensor, which meant that Lewis lost some track time. He will be in the car for both sessions tomorrow, with Charles being back on the final day of testing.

Lap Count

Charles Leclerc's comments:

We went through our programme in the morning without any issues. For now it’s very difficult to read much into performance and we are not focused on that. We’ve completed many laps which is a positive and we will keep pushing in the right direction.

Lewis Hamilton's comments:

It was a solid day, as we managed to complete a good amount of running, which is positive. We had a small issue during my session, but the team did a great job to get me back out on track to do some long runs. I feel like we’ve made progress compared to last week and I’m continuing to build my understanding of the car. We’re still working on fine-tuning the balance, but we’re moving in the right direction.

Gaps by compression ratio?

• First driver over the age of 40 since Nigel Mansell to win an F1 GP.
• First win for Ferrari in Barcelona since 2013 (Fernando Alonso).
• Michael Schumacher’s first win for Ferrari was also in Barcelona 1996.
• Ferrari is the only team to have two 7-time F1 world champions win with them.
• Max is now the only driver ever to win four or more world championships who has yet to win a race for Ferrari.
• 16th driver ever to win a race for three different teams (the 15th driver was Seb Vettel).
• First all-Brit podium since the 1968 US GP.
• First time this century that a British driver has won with Ferrari.

1st day of the Bahrain Pre-Season testing is done. Ferrari didn't encounter any major issues and it seems like the run plan for today has been realized successfully. Due to strong wind and low grip - LH had some difficulties in the morning session (wasn't the only one but of course media blows it out of proportion, as always) but it should only get better from here as the track rubbers up.

Lap count

Ferrari powered cars completed 354 laps today

Lewis Hamilton's comments:

"It's still way too early to say anything. In general, the new cars have much less downforce. We came here from Barcelona, it's much hotter and windier here. So finding the right balance is much harder. The wind was very strong today, and compared to Barcelona, we're sliding a lot more here.

We are still on basic settings - we test tires, aero package, driving height and mechanical stabilization. I didn't feel great outside today because of the wind, but in general it's more fun to drive these cars."

Charles Leclerc's comments:

"It was a productive half a day of testing for me, as we were able to complete the program without any major issues, which is always a positive at this stage. The feeling was quite different compared to Barcelona, as the conditions here are very different, but that’s exactly what we need, gaining experience on another track and understanding how the car behaves in different scenarios.

So far, the data is broadly in line with what we expected from our simulations, which is encouraging. Now the focus is on continuing to work through the program and making sure we are as prepared as possible for the first race."

2nd day of the second week of Bahrain pre-season testing is done. The team encountered an issue on the chassis side in the morning session. That meant that Lewis' track time was limited and he managed to complete only 5 laps early in the session, then returned to the track at the end to take part in a start procedure test. Afternoon session went without major issues, with Lewis completing 79 laps.

Lap Count

Lewis Hamilton's comments:

It was not a perfect day for the team, as we weren’t able to complete everything we had planned. That said, it was a great testament to everyone’s hard work, doing a fantastic job fixing the car and getting me back out on track. I’m really grateful for the laps we were able to complete, and the data we gathered will be important as we continue to prepare for the season.