Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on top of the timing screens on the second day of Formula 1 testing in Barcelona, but called for caution despite the encouraging result.
It was another positive day for Ferrari, as the team racked up 150 extra laps with the F1-75, with both drivers having a go, Carlos Sainz at the wheel in the morning session for 71 laps of running, finishing the day fifth in the timing screens, with a best effort of 1:20.546s.
Charles Leclerc was in the car for the afternoon session finishing the day fastest of all clocking a 1:19.689 lap, with a total of 79 laps under his belt.
Leclerc said in the team’s media brief: “A pretty good afternoon here in Barcelona!
“We completed a lot of laps again, which is what counts the most at testing. Our aim is to drive as many kilometres as we can, to complete as many different tests as possible and that’s exactly what we did.
“Again, we should not get ahead of ourselves, because P1 doesn’t mean anything at this stage. We have to keep working extremely hard.
“Tomorrow is our final day at Barcelona and we have to make the most of it before we turn our attention to Bahrain,” the Monegasque concluded.
Ferrari ran various setups to fine-tune the car
Ferrari said in their Thursday press release that the “key objective was for the drivers to continue to familiarise themselves with the new car, while also enabling the pit stop crew to get used to dealing with the new 18 inch tyres introduced this season by Pirelli” as the drivers “began to work on fine tuning the car, running various set-ups”.
Sainz said after the second testing day: “It was another productive day in which we were able to complete the whole run programme, which at this stage is the most important thing.
“We ran both the C2 and C3 tyres and that allowed us to further assess those compounds while trying different set ups in the car. Our 71 laps this morning were a good asset and also allowed me to start working a bit more on the driving style, gaining confidence with every lap.
“I’m satisfied with the work we’ve been able to do so far and I look forward to continuing this trend,” Sainz added.
#F1Testing day two ✅
Another 79 laps bringing our total to 1416km for this first test so far 💪#essereFerrari 🔴 pic.twitter.com/u5Diw3rYBj
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 24, 2022