Ferrari encouraged by test, but wary of raised expectations

Ferrari principal Frederic Vasseur said be was pleased by the team's performance in the official pre-season test at Bahrain this week, but stressed it was still too early to tell how they compared to other teams.

Carlos Sainz was set the best time of the week on Thursday and Charles Leclerc was quickest on Thursday, after Red Bull's Max Verstappen had initially dominated the timesheets on the opening day.

While direct comparisons between cars on different testing programs should always be taken with a pinch of salt, Ferrari is certainly looking a lot stronger than it did at the same stage 12 months ago.

"We can be pleased with what we’ve achieved during this test, both in terms of the mileage covered and the raft of data it has provided," Vasseur declared after the chequered flag fell on the final day.

"These were three productive days, with no technical problems, which is what you want most, especially when it’s the only session before the start of the season," he added.

• See also: Bahrain pre-season test - Day 3 in pictures

“Our first goal was to see if the SF-24 performed predictably, not being overly sensitive to variations in the external conditions and that it was easy to drive.

"It’s very important to have the car behave like this as it means the driver can quickly get an understanding of its characteristics and then get the most out of it.

"From what Charles and Carlos have said and looking at the consistency of their performance over a long run, it seems we were successful on this front," he continued, adding: "Both Charles and Carlos were happy with how things went.

"I feel I can say that looking just at our own performance, we have got off on the right foot," he said, admitting that it wouldn't be until next weekend's Bahrain GP that they will really be able to tell how they compare to their rivals.

"I expect several top teams to all be at a very similar level and I can’t wait to see exactly how our package compares to that of our competitors."

Leclerc had a similarly cautious view of how Ferrari would fare this season despite the successful test, stressing that it was "still very difficult to understand exactly where we are".

"We managed to be consistent straight away and this will help the race runs," he told the media. "But that doesn’t necessarily mean that, especially in qualifying, we’ll win a lot [of races].

"Drive-ability and competitiveness are two very different things. Last year we were struggling a lot to be consistent because the car was just a little bit all over the place whenever there was some wind.

"And that doesn’t mean anything compared to Red Bull," he acknowledged. My first feeling is that Red Bull is still quite a bit ahead, but we have a much stronger base compared to last year.

"“Last year was probably the worst ever test I’ve had in my entire career," he recalled. I finished the test and it was very, very difficult to understand in which direction to go.

"The car last year was just so inconsistent, it was very difficult to understand what were the main weaknesses," he noted. “This year, it’s much better. But we still have to work a lot and then we’ll see how competitive we are next Friday [in qualifying for the Bahrain GP]."

Leclerc’s team mate Carlos Sainz set the outright quickest time of the test. "I enjoyed every single lap in the car today," he said. "We tested a lot of different configurations to collect as much data as possible.

"The car seems to be in a decent place and I’m proud of the work that the team has done to complete such a solid test programme."

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