Vasseur tempers early running as Ferrari targets Bahrain clarity

The 57-year-old, speaking to F1.com, opted against reading too much into the timing achieved, explaining that the focus now shifts to reviewing the data collected during the shakedown.

“I think next week we'll be back at home, and it will be very intense as we review everything we collected over the last couple of days—all the data and all the improvements we need to make. We also have tons of open topics to address before Bahrain, where we have two sessions of three days each,” Vasseur explained.

The Ferrari team principal stressed that the Bahrain sessions would provide a clearer picture of the car’s performance than what was seen in Barcelona.

“As usual, it will be very intense because it’s just before race one, and then we fly to Melbourne. But yeah, Bahrain will be much more representative than this week,” Vasseur concluded.

At the shakedown organised in Barcelona, the Ferrari outfit improved steadily over the days and clocked the quickest time of the week so far, with Lewis Hamilton setting 1:16.348—nearly a tenth off the fastest lap recorded by George Russell a day earlier.

Teammate Charles Leclerc was also within touching distance, recording a 1:16.653 during his final runs on Friday.

Hamilton appeared to share the belief of team boss Vasseur, opting for a cautiously optimistic approach regarding his projections following his impressive testing in Barcelona.

The seven-time champion, however, pointed out the optimistic spirit within the Ferrari team, which he believes will be integral to the team making a significant step forward over the campaign.

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