Charles Leclerc experienced his first day in normal conditions in the SF-26 at the 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown. On the fourth day of testing, but Ferrari’s second day, the Ferrari driver recorded the third-fastest time with a lap of 1:18.223. The Monegasque completed 89 laps around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the dry conditions.
Speaking to F1.com, Leclerc reflected on his latest run, saying:
“It was nice. It’s super interesting. It’s kind of the first day for me in the car in normal conditions, so a lot to learn, a lot to discover, and it’s a very different car to what we’ve been driving since I arrived in Formula 1. I take that as a challenge, and I actually quite like that everything is new, and then there might be an opportunity for us drivers to think outside the box. It’s been an interesting day. No problems again, quite a lot of laps so that’s good.”
So far, the Scuderia team has not encountered any issues with their power unit and appear to be getting crucial laps in.
Leclerc: “The learning curve is quite steep”
With the new regulations ushering in a new era in Formula 1, the drivers still need to familiarise themselves with the new systems. When asked if he’s feeling more comfortable and relishing the challenge in the SF-26, Leclerc responded:
“Yes, I definitely feel more and more comfortable. It remains a Formula 1 car as well, in a way that it’s not like I was completely lost when I got back into the car, and quite quickly I was at ease, but with these new systems, and with the 50 percent of the power that comes from the electrical engine, makes it quite a bit more challenging to manage that. The learning curve is quite steep but it’s very interesting.“
When asked whether Ferrari is where they expected to be, the 28-year-old said:
“In terms of checklist and things we had to try, yes. In terms of performance, I have no idea where we are and it’s just a huge question mark and there is nothing that tells me ‘okay we are more or less here or here’. So this I guess we’ll see little by little with more testing and with more representative conditions as well. In terms of checklists of the things we wanted to go through, we kind of are on time with our programming so that’s good.”
The Italian team had a tough season last year and will hope this year will be different. With the shakedown before they head to Bahrain for pre-season testing, the team is using this time to make sure everything is as it should be.
Ferrari on track with trying different approaches at the 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown
While Leclerc said he is becoming more comfortable in the SF-26, he admits there is still much to test for the Ferrari team. The car appears reliable thus far, and the team are slowly but surely ticking off items on their checklist. Leclerc emphasised that there is still work to be done at the F1 Barcelona shakedown when asked what else he hopes to achieve during the test.
“The checklist is massive still. There are still many things that we want to test and to try differently, whether it’s some setup on the car, some different things or approaches that we have with these new systems. So there are many, many, many things. Again, we are on track of checking all of those, which is a good thing and I just hope it stays that way.”
