Lewis Hamilton seeking ‘more days like this’ after Barcelona shakedown debut

Lewis Hamilton had a “really productive” first outing in Barcelona testing, despite his running taking place in the wet all afternoon.

Charles Leclerc piloted the SF-26 on Tuesday morning, but with rain having taken over midway through Leclerc’s stint, Hamilton undertook his afternoon session in wet conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Lewis Hamilton reacts to ‘really productive’ Ferrari Barcelona outing

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Ferrari and Red Bull were the only two teams to put their cars out to test at the behind-closed-doors Barcelona shakedown on Tuesday, with the inclement forecast having put others off from risking their machinery in those conditions.

While there was a late crash in the day for Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, Ferrari was able to complete its planned running for the day, Hamilton confirming around 120 laps were completed between himself and his teammate come day’s end.

Having been through regulation changes in years gone by, Hamilton acknowledged that it could have been a lot worse from a reliability standpoint, with no guarantee of successful running from the off with brand-new machinery.

With that and despite the conditions going against him, he and Ferrari were looking at small improvements come day’s end – a positive sign after the team’s first day of shakedown running in earnest.

“Very challenging today, obviously, because it started raining at 10.30,” Hamilton explained after climbing out of the car.

“So, Charles had a little bit of dry running, but then it’s been wet all afternoon, so figuring out how to get the tyres working, it was really productive.

“I think we got 120 laps or something like that, given it’s in the wet conditions, and we had a red flag, I think that’s pretty solid.

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“Really proud of everyone back at the factory for getting the car to this point, and we got a lot of information on the car today. Definitely need to keep it up. Lots and lots to do, but a good first day.”

He added: “I mean, it could be so much worse, [with] such a big regulation change.

“So to get through the day – there were no major issues, it’s just small little increments that we’re trying to improve on. I think it’s great. We just need to try and get some more days like this.”

Teams are allowed to conduct three days of running out of the possible five available at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, so Ferrari headed into Wednesday knowing that it has two more days left at its disposal, having opted to sit out of the first day on Monday.

With both Hamilton and Leclerc in attendance, the seven-time World Champion outlined his targets for the rest of the shakedown – not least running on slick tyres, and getting used to the all-new elements of the car, including active aerodynamics and a different way of managing energy deployment.

“Well, [I’m] hoping to experience the car in the dry,” he said, and added: “I think just understanding balance, understanding the new SM (Straightline Mode) that we have, and how to utilise it, how you feel it. I have not driven it in the dry, so don’t really have a feeling for it.

“Obviously, we drove it in there in the wet, which is only the front part – and then just understanding the deployment.

“I think deployment’s going to be crucial, and understanding that, how to utilise the power, the battery throughout the lap, and recharging, all that kind of stuff.

“But, we’ve done a huge amount of work. Everyone’s done a huge amount of work on the simulator, so it’s not like it’s 100 per cent brand new for us, but we still have to go through our sessions and through the data to try and optimise it.”

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