Ferrari reserved over F1 pace after opening Bahrain test

Ferrari has asserted that it is too early to draw conclusions over its pace for the upcoming season following the opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Carlos Sainz set the third-fastest lap time of the day after taking over driving duties from team-mate Charles Leclerc in the afternoon.

However, the pace was set by Red Bull and Max Verstappen, with Sainz's best effort well over one second down on the three-time World Champion.

Having logged 69 laps to open his pre-season preparations, Sainz remained coy over issuing a prediction regarding the team's pace.

“It’s been a positive first day of testing here in Bahrain with 373 km completed,” said Sainz.

“We managed to go through the whole programme without issues, gathering some useful data to better understand the SF-24 together with the engineers.

“As usual with pre-season testing, it's too early to draw any conclusions yet, so we'll keep maximising the upcoming two days of running to get ready for the start of the season next week.

“It felt good to be back properly behind the wheel after the winter break.”

Leclerc's reaction

Ferrari's initial laps of the day were turned by Leclerc, who logged 64 tours of the circuit before stepping out for his teammate.

As Ferrari enters the season hoping for a more competitive campaign compared to recent years, Leclerc too was cautious over its chances.

“Our first morning of testing was quite productive, especially in terms of mileage,” Leclerc added.

“As for the performance, it’s just too early to comment or draw conclusions.

“We ran all the tests we planned to and things are going ahead as expected, which is a positive.

“We will continue working and hope to have two more useful days of testing ahead of the GP.”