Ferrari has revealed their full weekend programme from testing in Bahrain after the final day on track comes to a close.
Completing a total of 404 laps across the entire weekend between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the team put their new 2021 contender – the SF21 – through its paces.
With a condensed period of season testing taking place over just three days, the team has now revealed exactly what the team’s youngest ever line-up was focusing on across the weekend.
Day 1
Morning:
At 10 on the dot, Charles dove out of the pits onto the Sakhir track for a short first run with the car fitted with a rake, which helps gather data for the engineers on how the car is behaving.
Then, after a quick check, Leclerc was back on track for some longer runs with the C2 compound, doing several laps in consistent conditions.
He drove from 10 up to just before 2 pm, also running the C3 compound.
However, with ten minutes remaining, he was instructed by the team to park the car at the side of the track because of an anomaly with the combustion spotted on the telemetry. He did 58 laps, or 313.3 kilometres, his best time being a 1’33”242.
Afternoon:
The car then underwent the necessary checks and was prepared for Carlos who was thus able to make his debut at the wheel of the SF21 shortly before 16.
Despite strong winds, limited grip and poor visibility, the Spaniard’s work programme were similar to that of his team-mate, running both the C2 and C3 compounds.
Carlos completed 57 laps (308,5 km), the best in 1’31”919.
Programme:
On Day 2, the Scuderia will follow a similar programme to today.
This time, Sainz will drive the first part of the day and Charles the second.
Day 2
Morning. As planned, Carlos was the first to drive, going out at 10 local (8 CET), to tackle a programme aimed at evaluating the Pirelli tyres over a long distance.
The Spaniard did a series of quite long runs, using both the C2 and C3 compounds. Sainz did 56 laps, the quickest in a time of 1’33”072.
Afternoon:
After the lunch break, it was Charles’ turn to get to work and in the early afternoon, he too did some long runs on the C2 and C3 tyres.
In the final part of the session, the Monegasque did a series of runs aimed partly at a qualifying simulation with various tyre compounds.
By the end, Charles best time of 1’30”886 was set on the C5 compound, completing a total of 73 laps.
Programme:
The action continues tomorrow at Sakhir’s Bahrain International Circuit with the third and final day of testing.
Charles will be first out in the SF21 from 10 am local time (8 CET) with Carlos taking over for the afternoon.
Day 3
Morning:
Charles was first in the cockpit on the final day and began with a short run on C3 tyres, with which he set his best time of 1’30”486.
He then tackled a race simulation with two pit stops to change tyres. Charles did 80 laps (433 km), bringing his three-day total to 211 laps, or 1,142 km.
Afternoon:
After lunch, it was Carlos’s turn to get down to work and he began with a set of used C4 compound tyres before switching to new C2s.
At this point, Sainz also tackled a race simulation. In the final part of the session, as Charles did yesterday, the Spaniard drove the SF21 in qualifying trim.
He did a total of 79 laps, with the best time of 1’29”611. Over the three days, Sainz did 192 laps, equivalent to 1,040 km.
Speaking this evening, Mattia Binotto Ferrari Team Principal said;
“These were three very busy days of testing. One of our priorities was to make the most of the short time available to gain an understanding of the behaviour of the SF21 and we succeeded in doing that.
“I feel we have improved in many areas compared to last season.
“It’s hard to say where we are compared to our opponents because this test was even harder than usual to interpret.
“I was particularly pleased with the way Charles and Carlos worked with the team and the good relationship between the two of them, which has helped Sainz fit in with his new team very quickly.
“For our part, we have to carefully analyse all the data to be as well prepared as possible for the start of the championship. There’s a lot to do, but we all really want to do well.”
