“A long week but overall a productive one,” offers Vasseur his assessment about Ferrari’s initial feeling

Following a promising shakedown test run, Ferrari’s team principal Fred Vasseur offered his assessment of the initial run, claiming that the Scuderia did not experience any major reliability gremlins witht he brand-new SF26.

Ferrari concluded its Barcelona shakedown last week with a productive last day of running at the Circuit de Barcelona‑Catalunya, completing the final phase of early‑season preparation with the SF‑26.

The team added 145 laps on the last day alone — 675 kilometres — as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton split driving duties between the morning and afternoon sessions.

Charles Leclerc began the morning on Pirelli’s Medium (C2) compound, completing 49 laps as Ferrari continued its baseline checks and systems validation. He then switched to the C3 compound for a further 16 laps before returning to C2s for the final phase of the session. His morning total reached 78 laps, equivalent to 363 kilometres, contributing to the team’s consistent mileage throughout the week.

After the lunch break, Lewis Hamilton took over the SF‑26 and began his session on C2 tyres, completing 44 laps across runs of varying lengths, with the team interspersing the stints with routine checks and setup adjustments.

With around 90 minutes remaining, he switched to the C3 compound for a 10‑lap run before finishing the day back on C2s. Hamilton ended the afternoon with 67 laps (312 kilometres), bringing Ferrari’s three‑day total to 440 laps and 2050 kilometres.

Team Principal Fred Vasseur offered his assessment of the shakedown, defining Ferrari’s key goal for the shakedown run. “It’s been a long week but overall a productive one.

“We experienced different conditions, from wet to dry, and managed to complete a significant amount of running each day, which is crucial at this stage to collect data and check reliability.”

Explaining Ferrari’s initial feeling after the five-day Barcelona shakedown test, the Frenchman highlighted the fact that the Scuderia did not encounter any major reliability issues.

“We didn’t encounter any major issues, which is an important outcome. It’s still very early days and there is a lot to analyse and improve, but now we’ll return to Maranello to work through what we’ve learned and prepare for the Bahrain test, which will be more representative.”