Ferrari’s first day of 2026 Components 1 pre-season testing was made “very difficult” by the rain however featured “no main points”, Lewis Hamilton recapped.
F1 has reconvened for a gap five-day check behind closed doorways at Barcelona, with groups allowed to run on three of these days.
After shaking down its new SF-26 at Fiorano on Friday with a 15km Demonstration Occasion, Ferrari opted to skip the primary day of operating – not like most squads – and as an alternative run on Tuesday.
That day was largely shunned by rival groups, with solely Purple Bull becoming a member of the Scuderia on monitor, because of the risk of rain within the afternoon; precipitation appeared on the Catalan monitor even sooner, midway by the morning.
This meant Charles Leclerc and Hamilton needed to take care of precarious monitor situations within the morning and the afternoon respectively, however they nonetheless coated a whopping 121 laps in response to unofficial timing.
“Very difficult at present, clearly, as a result of it began raining at 10:30, so clearly Charles had somewhat little bit of dry operating, however then it has been moist all afternoon, so determining the right way to get the tyres working,” Hamilton recounted.
“It was actually productive, I believe we bought about 120 laps or one thing like that; given it is within the moist situations and we had a pink flag and that, I believe that is fairly strong.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Ferrari
“So, actually pleased with everybody again on the manufacturing facility for getting the automotive thus far, and we bought a whole lot of info on the automotive at present. We undoubtedly have to stick with it, tons and much to do, however a superb first day.”
A key side to this check is F1’s brand-new chassis and engine laws, that includes energetic aerodynamics and a near-50:50 cut up between combustion and electrical energy in addition to larger power administration to play with.
The final time the world championship had such a monumental overhaul was in 2014 when turbo hybrid energy items have been launched, and the opening check had been a battle for all groups attributable to an abundance of reliability points – which, in 2026, places Ferrari’s first check day into perspective.
“It could possibly be a lot worse on such an enormous regulation change,” Hamilton identified. “So to get by the day with out too many main – there have been no main points, it is simply small little increments that we’re attempting to enhance on. I believe it is nice, and as I mentioned, we simply have to attempt to get some extra days like this.”
The seven-time world champion was unable to completely become familiar along with his SF-26’s new aerodynamic and engine instruments on Tuesday because of the rain, however he was nonetheless enthused by the brand new equipment.
“I’ve had the privilege of being right here for a very long time, 19 years, so been by numerous completely different vehicles,” he mentioned, enumerating half a dozen completely different rulesets. “So a whole lot of completely different swapovers, however that is the largest one which I’ve seen.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Ferrari
“I do not need to say an excessive amount of about it simply but, as a result of it is tough to know. As I mentioned, I’ve solely pushed it within the rain. I imply, it is quite a bit much less downforce than we had final yr, however we do not have the porpoising that we had final yr, or a minimum of in 2022 after we began it. So there’s undoubtedly positives.
“And it is massively difficult for everyone, for each workforce, which I believe is nice. It actually places everybody on the again foot. I imply, everybody’s actually going to type of be on their toes and studying as you go.
“And whoever develops the quickest, whoever is the neatest in optimising the time and the power deployment and improvement would be the ones on the high. And I believe this offers everybody an opportunity to get to the highest, which is nice. And so we’re simply all palms on deck attempting to verify we maximise it.”
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