Leclerc not getting carried away by smooth start to testing

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc said it was important not to get carried away by a strong, trouble -free start to the 2022 championship after the first day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

Leclerc set the early benchmark time of 1:20.165s in the morning session using the C3 tyres, with Carlos Sainz going on to set the next-best time when he took over the wheel of the new F1-75 after the lunchtime break.

Even though both eventually were beaten by a late run from McLaren's Lando Norris on the softer, quicker C4 compound, it was a very successful day for Ferrari with the pair completing 158 laps of trouble-free running.

• Read also: Barcelona pre-season testing Day 1 in pictures

Previously the car had only completed 15km in a demonstration event on February 18, plus a further 100km during Tuesday's filming day.

"This is always a really exciting moment at the start of each season," said Leclerc after stepping out of the cockpit. "It was the first time that we could really push in our new car and it felt really good to be back behind the wheel.

"We completed all the tests we wanted to and ran through our full programme smoothly, which is good for a new car," he added.

Wednesday's running allowed Leclerc and Sainz to familiarise themselves with what is in effect a totally new car because of the sport's new rules and regulations being introduced this year.

The drivers and the team had to get used to the car's increased size, which will be particularly important when it comes to executing flawless pit stops. They also had to ensure that the car's real world performance correlated with the results of simulation work carried out during the design phase.

"The initial feeling is not bad, but we shouldn’t get carried away by the timesheets today," Leclerc cautioned. "These are early days and everyone is still hiding their true form.

"It’s impossible to have a clear picture just yet, so we have to stay focused and keep working hard. We put in a lot of laps, more than any other team today, and that’s a positive we will build on".

"I’m looking forward to being back on track again tomorrow," he added, with his next run due for Thursday afternoon while Sainz will switch to the morning shift.

"Today was the first time I was in the car with a proper run plan, unlike the previous times when we basically did shake downs," said the Spaniard. "We could finally push a bit and start learning from these cars.

"The timesheet is unimportant at this early stage, but it was very positive to put in a good number of laps and get a real feel at the wheel.

"We still have a lot of work to do but today we could already start feeling some differences from last year, although in terms of getting used to it I don’t feel it’s going to take too long.

"The last tenths will be tricky to find, but that is the interesting part," he added. "[But] that’s not the aim here in Barcelona as we still have more testing ahead of the first race.

"A good first day, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow."

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