F1 Test at Barcelona – Day 4

Leclerc brings test to an end with a further 138 laps
Montmelò, 21 February 2019 – Charles Leclerc was at the wheel of the SF90 on what was the last day of this four day Formula 1 pre-season test at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit. The Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow driver completed a total of 138 laps; 72 in the morning and 66 in the afternoon. That means the SF90 has covered 598 laps in this first test, (303 for Sebastian Vettel and 295 for Charles Leclerc), equivalent to a total distance of 2783,69 kilometres.
Different configurations. Following the installation lap, the Monegasque driver then got down to a series of runs to evaluate different set-ups, running various tyre compounds. Towards the end of the morning, Charles set what would be his fastest lap of the day in 1’18”046. The afternoon featured further tyre testing with the car running in different configurations.
With the media. During the lunch break, Leclerc spoke to the media about his first days in Ferrari. “For now, I don’t want to say too much, because this is just testing” he said. “But the feeling from the car is very good. We did many laps, the reliability was good and every day we managed to complete our programme.”
At ease in the car. “I feel quite at ease in the car, even if there are still a few things I need to get used to, including how the team operates. But this is quite an easy car to drive. As Seb said, this doesn’t feel like a new car, but more like one that is quite well developed. Driveability is very good, which shows that the team has done an amazing job over the winter to bring a very solid car here.”
Always improve. “As soon as I arrived here in Barcelona, I switched to ‘work’ mode and put any emotion to one side to get on with the job as well as possible,” concluded Charles. “The results? I’m not really focusing on that side of things. I’m focusing on myself, trying to do my best and to improve with every lap.”
Last test now. In between now and the start of the championship, which gets underway in Australia on 17 March, there are a further four days of testing scheduled for all the teams, again at the Barcelona track. The session gets underway on Tuesday 26 February and end on Friday 1 March.