132 laps for the SF-26 on its Sakhir debut

The opening day of the first Bahrain test, saw Scuderia Ferrari HP drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc complete a total of 132 laps (715 km.) between them. Lewis was at the wheel in the morning before handing over to Charles for the afternoon.

Morning. Shortly after 10 local time, Lewis drove out of the garage, the car fitted with aero rakes to carry out measurement runs before moving onto the core of the programme. The Englishman started on C2 compound tyres before switching to the softer C3s. In total, he completed 52 laps (281 km), allowing the team to gather useful data on the car’s behaviour while he continued to increase his understanding of the car, running with grip levels and in temperatures very different to those experienced during the Barcelona shakedown. His best time was a 1’36”433 on C3 tyres.

Afternoon. During the lunchbreak, the car was set up for Charles, who exited the pit lane shortly after 15 to continue a programme very similar to that of his team-mate with several long runs, as well as practice starts and pit-stops. The Monegasque began with a series of laps on used C3 tyres before fitting a set of C2s, on which he completed 20 laps. Towards the end of the day, Charles fitted new C3 tyres and set his best time of 1’35”190, bringing his total to 80 laps (433 km).

MORNING

DRIVER Lewis Hamilton #44
LAPS 52
DISTANCE COMPLETED 281 kilometres
FASTEST LAP 1’36″433 on C3
TYRES USED C2, C3
WEATHER Sunny, dry. Temperatures: air 30°C, track 40°C

AFTERNOON

DRIVER Charles Leclerc #16
LAPS COMPLETED 80
DISTANCE COMPLETED 433 kilometres
FASTEST LAP 1’35″190 on C3
TYRES USED C2, C3
WEATHER Sunny, dry. Temperatures: air 27-24°C, track 30-24°C

Lewis Hamilton #44

It was good to be back in the car and get more laps in. The track conditions today were quite tricky: there was a lot of dust and sand, and the wind was very strong.
It’s still too early to say where we stand. At this stage everyone is running different programmes, so the most important thing is to focus on ourselves and keep learning.
I see a very focused team, and over the next few days we’ll keep working step by step and continue to improve.

Charles Leclerc #16

It was a productive half day of testing for me, as we were able to complete the programme 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 programme and making sure we are as prepared as possible for the first race.