Winter tests D3 – Leclerc and Antonelli very close, Hadjar in continuity

One more time, Ferrari played in the forefront. Like Lewis Hamilton Thursday morning, Charles Leclerc stood out as the fastest man in the first session of the day. Here again, the Monegasque “fought” against a Mercedes, that of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in this case like his teammate against George Russell 24 hours earlier.

The two men started at a high pace as it was in the first of the four hours of running that they set their fast laps. They went blow for blow, improving in turn until Charles Leclerc's 1'30 became the final benchmark in this morning session. Andrea Kimi Antonelli managed to lower his best mark but ultimately fell 811 thousandths behind the Ferrari driver.

At McLaren, this morning was divided into two sequences. Lando Norris first worked on the race pace with laps more than 3 seconds behind Charles Leclerc before gradually raising the tone. Perhaps a tone below in terms of the effort deployed, the Englishman nevertheless invited himself into the Top 3, finishing 0 behind the Monegasque. Max Verstappen, who drove the entire day in the RB21, and Jack Doohan completed the top five.

Note that Max Verstappen and Red Bull have already tried new elements on the RB21. They have notably worked with a new front wing as well as an engine cover as had been announced by technical director Pierre Waché the day before.

Isack Hadjar continued his training. After the 94 laps on Thursday afternoon, the Racing Bulls driver completed 73 this Friday morning, making him the most active on the track. The Tricolore did not encounter the slightest reliability problem and was able to complete his driving program without any problems. He finished 7th, 0 behind Charles Leclerc.

A red flag was raised, again due to an infrastructure problem. After the power outage on Wednesday afternoon, it was a window in the officials' booth that caused it. It broke and pieces of glass fell onto the track.

There is one last session left this Friday before the end of these pre-season tests. It will be once again from 13:00 p.m., still on AUTOhebdo.

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