Charles Leclerc voices Ferrari 'excitement' after Barcelona shakedown

Charles Leclerc has stated the most prominent emotion in F1 right now is “excitement” after the new cars hit the track for the first time last week.

The Barcelona shakedown event at the Circuit de Catalunya saw Ferrari tally 435 laps across its allowed three days of running - second only to Mercedes.

Ferrari is hoping the new era will bring about a shift up the pecking order, with its last title success now stretching back a staggering 18 years to 2008.

After getting its season up and running, Leclerc declared there is a mood of anticipation in the Ferrari camp.

"I think there's a lot of excitement, not only in Ferrari but I think around the whole paddock,” he said.

"It's an exciting time for Formula 1 where there's so much change that we've got to adapt as drivers, we've got to adapt as teams and try and find ways to maximise what is now our new package.

“Especially with this energy management that is so much more important compared to the past.”

Bahrain will host the next two three-day pre-season tests this month, where a pecking order may become easier to establish.

With many teams using Barcelona to test their systems rather than seek to extract pace from the car, Leclerc insisted it is too early to draw conclusions.

"So yeah, excitement but apart from that not so much more, I mean it's still very, very early days,” he said.

“Just really looking forward to seeing what we'll learn in Bahrain and just focus on ourselves for now."