Lewis Hamilton drove Ferrari’s new F1 automotive forward of the pre-season take a look at in Barcelona.
Lewis Hamilton has already pushed his new F1 automotive (Picture: Getty)
Lewis Hamilton has expressed his pleasure after driving Ferrari’s 2026 challenger for the primary time on the workforce’s launch occasion in Fiorano. The seven-time world champion accomplished his share of 15 kilometres behind the wheel of the SF-26 with hundreds of members of the Tifosi watching on in pleasure.
Ferrari launched their new machine forward of the primary behind-closed-doors pre-season take a look at on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with each Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc stepping behind the wheel at Fiorano for a shakedown occasion.
To maximise the mileage inside F1’s 15km restrict, Hamilton stopped the automotive immediately on monitor after performing what appeared like a observe begin. Mechanics then wheel the SF-26 again to the storage, permitting Leclerc to move again out onto the circuit for extra monitor time.
Talking about his new automotive, Hamilton instructed F1.com: “It’s simply so thrilling once they hearth the automotive up and also you get the brand new vibration of the automotive via your physique, after which they open up the door and you find yourself happening to Flip One the place you possibly can see the Tifosi.
“That’s one thing that I’ll by no means get used to, and one thing that I’ll by no means be capable to overlook. However in the present day’s actually about reconnecting with the workforce, reconnecting with that zeal of all of the people who comply with this workforce. It’s only a day that reignites you. It actually additionally jogs my memory of why I really like doing what I do and why I really like this sport.”
Whereas Hamilton’s pleasure was palpable, team-mate Leclerc despatched a transparent warning that no assumptions may be made concerning the SF-26’s efficiency relative to Ferrari’s F1 rivals. The true pecking order received’t turn out to be clear till the season opener in Melbourne, even with a number of rounds of pre-season testing.
Hamilton’s new automotive hit the monitor at Fiorano (Picture: Getty)
“I’m positively trying ahead to at the present time yearly,” Leclerc stated. “Nonetheless, it’s the form of day the place the primary goal is to test that the whole lot is working correctly and that there aren’t any huge issues, which was the case in the present day, so that could be a constructive.
“However when it comes to efficiency, when it comes to feeling, it’s too early to say. The situations weren’t that nice both. There’s lots of fog, just a little little bit of a moist monitor as effectively, so it’s not the very best situations to check a automotive for the primary time.
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“However I used to be very excited as a result of there’s been a lot speak and a lot work behind the scenes as a way to get to that second prepared and in order that the automotive might clearly go across the monitor usually and test for the primary time the true sensors on the automotive to see whether or not it was doing the issues that we anticipated.”
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