Over the course of the three day pre-season test at Sakhir’s Bahrain International Circuit, Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow’s SF21 completed a total of 403 laps, equivalent to 2,182 kilometres. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz shared the driving every day.
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 a best time of 1’29”611. Over the three days, Sainz did 192 laps, equivalent to 1,040 km.
Back on track in a fortnight. The Scuderia now heads home to Maranello where the vast quantity of data gathered will be carefully studied, prior to the first Grand Prix of the season, back here at Sakhir on Sunday 28 March.
Mattia Binotto Team Principal:
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.