Leclerc ends Pirelli tyre test ahead of Hamilton and Piastri

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc ended the second day of Pirelli tyre take a look at on prime, beating his new workforce mate Lewis Hamilton and McLaren racer Oscar Piastri because the Scuderia and the Woking-base outfit introduced the two-day of operating on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to an finish.

The second and remaining day of testing for Pirelli on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit got here to an finish because the Milan-based tyre provider concluded its work with Ferrari and McLaren.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton shared driving duties, utilizing the modified Ferrari SF-24, whereas Oscar Piastri was on the wheel of a McLaren MCL60. Each automobiles had been tailored to swimsuit the prototype tyres designed across the new technical rules that may come into drive subsequent yr, being narrower than the present ones by 25 millimetres on the entrance and 30 on the rear.

A complete of 300 laps was accomplished at present, 74 by the Monegasque driver, 74 for his British team-mate and 152 for the Australian. Leclerc set a benchmark of 1’14”971, Hamilton clocked in a time of 1’16”759 whereas Piastri set a lap time of 1’15”815. Nevertheless, it’s value noting that the general lap occasions don’t have any actual significance given the totally different work programmes carried out for Pirelli by the 2 groups.

Commenting on the two-day operating, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Mario Isola: “It was a really helpful session, notably when it got here to offering a comparability between the assorted totally different constructions for subsequent season, in addition to experimenting with some compounds from the tougher finish of the vary.

“The Barcelona circuit is named probably the most demanding for the tyres when it comes to the power exerted and degradation, subsequently the data we now have gathered over these two busy days will likely be crucial for the longer term growth of this era of tyres.

“It’s a very demanding begin to the yr with 4 take a look at periods even earlier than the season begins and I need to thank all of the groups which can be working with us, as a result of we all know how busy they’re for the time being.”

Following on from final week’s take a look at in Paul Ricard and this one in Barcelona, the workforce of Pirelli engineers are heading additional south subsequent week, for 2 days of testing on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit, in Andalusia on 13 and 14 February. Alpine will likely be collaborating on each days, whereas McLaren and Mercedes will do sooner or later every.

The ultimate pre-season take a look at will happen at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit on 2 and three March with Alpine and Williams operating each days. This similar venue will then host the one three day take a look at when all groups will run their 2025 automobiles previous to the opening spherical, the Australian Grand Prix.