Charles Leclerc had his first run-out in the F1 machine in 2021 today when the Monegasque saddled a 2018 Ferrari SF71H on the Italian team’s Fiorano test track – one day after youngsters Giuliano Alesi, Marcus Armstrong and Robert Shwartzman tried the car.
Leclerc – back in action after a period of self-isolation after the contract with Covid-19 – completed over 100 laps in Ferrari’s private, 2.997 km long test facility when it got under way before the start of the official tests before the 2021 season in Bahrain.
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Leclerc’s run in the car in 2018 was part of a five-day test organized by Ferrari in Fiorano. New Ferrari boy Carlos Sainz will make his debut as Prancing Horse on Wednesday when he takes over the car. The Spaniard joined Ferrari from McLaren for 2021.
The test will be especially important to Sainz as pre-season testing is said to be limited to just three days for this season – meaning Sainz only has a day and a half to familiarize himself with Ferrari’s 2021 car.
Leclerc leaves the famous Fiorano mines
Rounding out the five-day test is races for Mick Schumacher and Callum Ilott – Schumacher will be driving all Thursday and Friday mornings to help prepare for joining Haas in 2021 before handing the car over to Ilott, who came in second Germans in last year’s F2 championship.
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The day before Leclerc’s race, Giuliano Alesi and Marcus Armstrong enjoyed their first taste of F1 machines. Alesi was closely watched by his father, Ferrari legend Jean, as he took to the track with the number 28 – the same name Alesi Senior – was assigned when he joined Ferrari in 1991.
Alesi gets into car # 28
The test was Alesi’s last official engagement as part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. The French driver left the organization before racing in Asia.
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New Zealand racing driver Armstrong also made his Ferrari F1 test debut, making him the first Kiwi since Chris Amon to drive a Prancing Horse machine. The placer Robert Shwartzman also had another assignment in the SF71H.
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