Charles Leclerc has spoken of his desire to see Ferrari return to the front of the Formula 1 pecking order following his first morning in the SF-26 at the Barcelona shakedown test.
Leclerc and Ferrari are entering 2026 with a renewed sense of optisim, the new technical and power unit regulations offering a reset to a team shrouded in disappointment.
Ferrari slipped to fourth in the constructors’ championship last season, in a year marred by missed opportunities and poor strategic decision making during races.
Following the limited shakedown running of the new SF-26 at Ferrari’s private Fiorano test circuit, Leclerc and the SF-26 took to the track in Barcelona on Tuesday.
The Monegasque confirmed Ferrari had focused on a systems test rather than outright speed, revealing the results.
It was nice to be back in the car, back in a very, very all-new car and very different to what we’ve been driving so far,” he said to Formula1.com after his time in the car.
“So, for now it’s all about trying to understand if everything is working properly, which it kind of did.
“It’s not the best conditions because it’s been a little rainy this morning, but actually we did our programme anyway because, again, we’re not focused on performance or whatsoever.
“We’re more about looking at all the systems that are new on this car and see if everything works as it should. And it did, so that’s a positive. And then we’ll go through slowly our programme.”
Charles Leclerc chasing a return to the top for Ferrari
Confirming the key takeaways for Ferrari after the first extended running of the SF-26, Charles Leclerc hinted at incremental steps to understand his new challenger.
“Well, I think for now, obviously, being the first morning, we’ve gone through the very first preliminary check of the car, which everything went properly,” he confirmed.
“And little by little we’ll just go through our checklist of the first systems to then eventually what matters most, which is performance.
“But this will come probably a bit later on in those three days and trying to understand first how everything behaves and then see how it goes.
And just finally, and more generally, always a big moment to arrive at this point of the year with a new car, building up to the new season. What’s the general mood in the camp? How are you feeling after the break and going into this new year?
In a telling statement of intent, Leclerc revealed he is pushing for Ferrari to the team that master’s the sport’s radical technical overhaul, challenging the team to push its way back to the top of F1.
“I’m very excited,” he said.
“I’m very excited to see what the others have in store and when we start pushing a bit more to see where we are compared to the others.
“I think this year is a big opportunity for every team to do something different and to maybe gain bigger advantage than what we’ve seen in the last few years.
“I hope we are the team that will manage to make the difference.
“But wherever we start, we will push at the maximum to try and bring Ferrari back to the top. It’s been quite a few years, so I hope that this one is ours.”
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