Day 4 of pre-season testing for the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship saw Scuderia Ferrari complete a total of 763 kilometres between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc.
The morning session saw Vettel behind the wheel of the SF1000 for a total of 84 laps as he got to grips with Pirelli’s prototype C2 tyre compound, which has been especially designed for use at the Dutch Grand Prix later this year, due to the banked section.
Following the evaluation of the new compound, the German switched to the standard C2 compound as the Italian team continued their pre-season evaluation.
For the second part of the morning session the former champion switched to the C3 compound tyre, setting a fastest time of 1:18.113 which would put him in tenth place by the end of the day despite a spin which briefly brought out red flags.
The afternoon session saw Charles Leclerc take over driving duties as he also got to sample the Zandvoort-spec compound before running a similar programme to Vettel with standard C2 tyres followed by C3 for the final hour.
During his 80 laps Leclerc evaluated some aerodynamic changes that the team had made along with completing longer runs. The Monegasque driver ended the day with a fastest time of 1:18.244, good enough for thirteenth place.
“It was nice to be back in the car today, even if the wind that intensified in the afternoon complicated our programme, because it meant the data we gathered, relating to the handling of the car, could not be relied upon completely,” explained Leclerc.
“At least we managed to cover a good number of laps, moving forward in terms of our understanding of the car. Then, finally, in the closing minutes, the wind died down and I was able to do a run that was more reliable in terms of feedback. At the moment, it’s impossible to make comparisons with our rivals.
“Over the next two days, we will continue to concentrate on ourselves to try and get all the potential out of the car.”
Day 5 sees Vettel in the car for the full day as he completes his last test programme in the car before the opening race in Melbourne, Australia, while Leclerc will do the same on Friday.
