Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have Ferrari fans dreaming.

The chapter of Formula One testing in Barcelona closed in the sign of Ferrari. The last eight hours of on-track activity were held at Montmeló on Friday in a day that smiled at least chronometrically on the Maranello team’s drivers. In the morning session to set the best time was in fact Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque lapped in 1’16”653 approaching the time achieved on Thursday by George Russell. Behind him were Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull).

Andrea Gussoni

In the afternoon, all the drivers or almost all of them devoted themselves to the quest for the fastest lap. Lando Norris led the McLaren to the top with a 1’16”594, which seemed almost unbeatable, but in the final Lewis Hamilton placed the paw: the seven-time British champion stopped the clock on 1’16”348, the best overall time of all the tests. Verstappen also did well, steadily among the best, while Fernando Alonso continued his program without improving.

Charles Leclerc is optimistic: “In general the last two days have been positive as we have tested everything that we planned to test. There is a lot of enthusiasm, not only in Ferrari, to see how drivers and teams will adapt to this new regulation and maximize what is now a new package. Especially from the electrical point of view, the handling of which will be greater than in past years. Now before Bahrain we will analyze the data collected and go back to the simulator”.

Satisfied also Lewis Hamilton: “It&#8217s been a really positive and enjoyable week, during which we have worked very consistently. The effort put in by everyone over the winter, both by myself and the team, was seen in the mileage we were able to complete without any major problems”

“This is an encouraging sign for the start of this new journey. Having driven in the wet in the first few days was very helpful, especially with a completely new car. These are situations that help to better understand the behavior of the car and to build confidence step by step. We know there is still a lot to learn and there is a lot of work to be done, but the environment is positive and I sense great concentration from everyone”.