F1 Barcelona Test – Day 2: Another day of learning about the F1-75

Programme. As was the case yesterday, a 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. Carlos and Charles also began to work on fine tuning the car, running various set-ups.

Morning. Sainz jumped into the car at 9, leaving the garage a few minutes later. The Spaniard did 71 laps, running the C2 and C3 compound tyres, using the latter to set his best time of 1`20”546. Over the two days, Carlos has done 144 laps, or 673 kilometres.

Afternoon. Leclerc went out on track shortly after 2pm and ran the C1, C2 and C3 tyres completing 79 laps. His best time was a 1’19”689, on the softest C3 compound, that was also the fastest of the day. Over the two days so far, he has completed 159 laps, or 743 kilometres. The F1-75 itself has therefore racked up 303 laps (1416 km) the most of any car on track.

Third day. Tomorrow is the final day of the test at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit and this time, Charles will drive first, before handing over to Carlos.

Charles Leclerc #16

“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.”

Carlos Sainz #55

“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.”