After joining Ferrari from McLaren ahead of the 2021 season, Sainz has worked with the team at his Maranello plant for the past few weeks, doing a few runs in his simulator.
Ferrari announced late last year that it was planning to test Sainz in one of its older F1 cars over the winter, partly offsetting the limited amount of official prep runs in March.
Motorsport.com anticipates that Sainz will test a Ferrari F1 car for the first time at Fiorano next Wednesday as part of a larger program for the team on its private test track.
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The race will be conducted in the Ferrari SF71H, which ran through the 2018 season and won six races. Teams are not allowed to use cars that have driven in the past two years. The 2018 specification car is immediately available after private tests last year.
Sainz will test on Wednesday and Thursday next week in Fiorano together with his teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver had by then taken a negative COVID-19 test after contracting the virus earlier this month.
The test offers Sainz the first opportunity to take part in a track program for the 2021 season with his racing team and his engineering team, which makes it a valuable experience even in a nearly three-year-old car.
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Sainz won’t have a chance to drive Ferrari’s 2021 car, the SF21, until the start of pre-season testing in Bahrain, which will take place from March 12-14 before the opening lap on the Sakhir circuit two weeks later.
Ferrari’s five-day test in Maranello will also include running to Ferrari Driver Academy members, particularly Formula 2 drivers Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong. Both will be on course from Monday in the SF71H.
It will be Armstrong’s first F1 test trip for Ferrari, while Shwartzman took part in the 2018 Ferrari race at the Fiorano and Yas Marina circuits in Abu Dhabi last year.
Giuliano Alesi will also take part in the test, but it is not known whether Ferrari test and reserve driver Callum Ilott will be present.
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