Both drivers had several items on their worksheet. First off was a function check for the car over a longer
distance, the F1-75 having previously only completed 15 kilometres in a demonstration event on the 18
February, plus a further 100 during yesterday’s filming day. Another task for the drivers was for them to
familiarise themselves with what is a totally new car. Today was also an opportunity for the drivers and the
team to get used to the car’s increased size, with particular regard to pit stops. Another item was
correlating the car’s behaviour on track compared to the results of the simulation work carried out during its
design phase.
Day 2
Tomorrow continues along the same lines with the two drivers on duty once again: this time Carlos will start
the day while Charles will take over in the afternoon.
Charles Leclerc #16
“The first day of testing is behind us. This is always a really exciting moment at the start of each season. It
was the first time that we could really push in our new car and it felt really good to be back behind the
wheel. We completed all the tests we wanted to and ran through our full programme smoothly, which is
good for a new car. I’m looking forward to being back on track again tomorrow. The initial feeling is not
bad, but we shouldn’t get carried away by the timesheets today, as these are early days and everyone is
still hiding their true form. It’s impossible to have a clear picture just yet, so we have to stay focused and
keep working hard. We put in a lot of laps, more than any other team today, and that’s a positive we will
build on”.
Carlos Sainz #55
“Today was the first time I was in the car with a proper run plan, unlike the previous times when we basically
did shake downs. We could finally push a bit and start learning from these cars. The timesheet is
unimportant at this early stage, but it was very positive to put in a good number of laps and get a real feel
at the wheel. We still have a lot of work to do but today we could already start feeling some differences
from last year, although in terms of getting used to it I don’t feel it’s going to take too long. For sure the last
tenths will be tricky to find, but that is the interesting part! Anyway, that’s not the aim here in Barcelona as
we still have more testing ahead of the first race. A good first day and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. ”
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