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It’s far too soon to be making predictions about where Ferrari might be in the pecking order this season, but Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were making very positive noises after the shakedown in Barcelona.
Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time at the Circuit de Catalunya, although there are far too many unknown variables to be able to determine whether this is encouraging or not for Ferrari.
The Scuderia completed the second-most distance in testing, only dwarfed by the mammoth 504 laps that Mercedes managed across three days.
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Team principal Fred Vasseur will recognise that the hard work has only just started for his two drivers.
As well as getting the SF-26 up to scratch, Hamilton and Leclerc will have a busy schedule of marketing and sponsorship events.
The seven-time world champion was tasked with one of his least favourite things to do at their Maranello factory this week, but it will hopefully all pay off for Ferrari once they arrive at the Australian Grand Prix.
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Lewis Hamilton tasked with ‘in-depth’ Ferrari simulator session ahead of Bahrain testing
A report from Formula1.it shared more details about what was happening at Ferrari’s factory in the build-up to the first of two three-day events in Sakhir.
There are ‘positive signals’ throughout Ferrari’s factory after the test in Barcelona, primarily because the new power unit performed well for all three teams that ran it.
It’s believed that the two tests in Bahrain with the increased mileage will give Ferrari a better indication of their engine’s reliability.
Although Ferrari might be behind Mercedes in terms of engine management, they plan on bringing the same engine that ran in Barcelona to the Sakhir International Circuit.
On top of this, Ferrari will be able to do far more set-up work in Bahrain, and an ‘in-depth’ analysis of what they found in Barcelona has already started.
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Hamilton and Leclerc took part in a filming day with the team’s partners on Tuesday, on top of completing their simulator sessions.
This is likely to decide what set-up work Ferrari want to do in Bahrain, although Hamilton has notoriously ‘never felt comfortable’ doing the simulator work.
Oscar Piastri has been told he needs to improve his sim sessions as well, with Max Verstappen the obvious example of what spending that much time working virtually on the car can do to improve performance.
Ferrari’s 2026 car is expected to travel to Bahrain today to avoid any delays at the start of next Wednesday’s crucial test.
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James Vowles asking questions about Ferrari after watching Barcelona shakedown
Although the shakedown in Barcelona was behind closed doors and fans have only been drip-fed information, there were 10 teams in the paddock who got to immediately study their rivals close up.
The 11th team was Williams, who didn’t manage to get a car out to the Circuit de Catalunya.
However, James Vowles has already given his verdict on Ferrari’s car, and it will be interesting to see once the SF-26 reaches Bahrain how similar it looks to their original outing.
Ferrari raised eyebrows by running Hamilton in the wet in Spain, but it means they’ve got some valuable data that isn’t available to any other team except Red Bull, who saw Isack Hadjar crash into the barriers in the same tricky conditions.
The more running, both virtual and in real life, that Ferrari can do, the more likely they will be to put a disappointing 2025 season behind them.
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