F1 Barcelona, focus on Leclerc and new brake system
After the issues encountered in the last two race weekends in Montreal and Monaco, at Barcelona Charles Leclerc is testing a new “mixed” solution on his braking system.
Following a similar approach to what Lewis Hamilton has been using since Japan, the Monegasque driver is running discs and brake pads supplied by the French company Carbone Industrie, while still retaining Brembo calipers, brake pumps, and braking components – the Italian company with which Ferrari has a long-standing and well-established technological partnership that has lasted for more than 50 years.
In short, there was significant curiosity during Barcelona’s free practice sessions to see how Leclerc would adapt to this new technical solution. The first feedback came from team principal Frédéric Vasseur: “Yes, it went well. He definitely needed a couple of laps to get used to it, but in the end everything went fine. No issues.”
Ferrari’s free practice analysis
Vasseur then analysed Ferrari’s Friday – with Charles Leclerc finishing 4th and Lewis Hamilton 9th: “It was a strange Friday, but it was the same for everyone. We know Barcelona, it is very difficult to put together a clean lap in these conditions, but it applies to everybody.”
Today the Ferrari SF-26 featured several new developments on the floor, sidepods, and front wing: “We had many new elements on the car and we had to carry out a lot of testing. Tyre degradation is always very high.” For this reason, Vasseur is expecting a two-stop race: “At least! I think it will be difficult, we saw today that degradation is there and it is significant on all compounds. With more rubber on track it will reduce a bit, but it will definitely be tough.”
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