For Ferrari’s second day, Lewis Hamilton led the helm for the morning session of the 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown. Unlike Tuesday, the Briton and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, were able to rack up important mileage on a dry track.
Hamilton prioritises mileage over speed
In an interview with Formula 1 after his day was completed, he talked about getting vital running in the dry ahead of Melbourne.
“It was nice to get out in the dry and do some running because obviously our first day was in the miserable wet weather, and it was good to get out and kind of see. Obviously, I drove in Fiorano just one or two laps just to kind of feel the car. So it was great to be able to get some running and understand the tyres.
“We did the C2 and the C1. It was so cold that the tyres weren’t really working so much, but we got through our program and a bit of an understanding of where the car is at and where we need to improve.”
So far during the 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown, the Ferrari power unit has not encountered any ongoing issues in their car. This has allowed both Hamilton and Leclerc to complete 174 laps today and almost 300 laps in total.
“When you come to the test, you always want to get a lot of mileage. Today, I did 85 laps in the morning, which is amazing, and that’s really down to all the people at the factory who have done such a great job to make sure the car so far is really reliable.”
‘Hopeful’ Hamilton eyes improvements after 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown is finished
“Last year, we had a worse start to testing. So this is actually, considering it’s a completely new band of rules, it’s better than we’ve experienced in the past. So I’m really hopeful that it continues.”
He added, “For us, it’s still to continue to try and get as much mileage and knowledge on this engine and on the car and the aero side. We went through a programme this morning, found some learnings, Charles is doing a different set this afternoon, which is great.”
After his morning session, Hamilton took the time to assess Leclerc’s afternoon run.
“My role is to listen to as much as possible, and at the end of the day, we both come together, and we both talk about our problems, the positives, and the negatives. Then we’ll come up with a plan of what we want to tackle tomorrow, as our last day.
“But already, we’ve got good data so far, so it’s just understanding that and making sure you’re making really clear and concise decisions in terms of what to test moving forward before we get to Bahrain.”
Among all the engine suppliers, Ferrari’s power unit is already stirring talk about its reliability. The Maranello-based team have not yet encountered any issues during the 2026 F1 Barcelona shakedown. Reliability will be an important factor through the upcoming season.
