Ferrari Driver Academy student and current leader of the F2 championship, Charles Leclerc, completed 98 laps at the wheel of the SF70H in the boiling heat of the Hungaroring on Tuesday, setting a final lap time of 1'17”746, on the Soft Pirelli tyres.
This turned out to be the fastest lap overall on the day, but for the young Frenchman, the stopwatch readout was not the most important aspect of this day….
“Driving a Ferrari is never a ‘normal' experience,” commented the 19 year old. “I felt as though I was driving a race car for the very first time. It's a great honour I have been accorded and I thank Ferrari with all my heart for this opportunity. I am pleased with the work I did and I hope the team is too. Driving the SF70H was a fantastic feeling and coming from F2, it's a whole other world, from every point of view.”
“It was the first time that I've driven a Formula 1 car with the wider tyres and this level of aerodynamic downforce and it was an incredible feeling. I also learned a lot from the work in the garage: Ferrari has the best engineers in the world and I felt very comfortable working with them. To set the fastest time is nice, but, in testing, its importance is only relative. I can now go on holiday in a happy mood, before concentrating on the second part of the F2 season. For the moment, Formula 1 is just a dream. I still have work to do and I know that: one step at a time.”
For today, Wednesday the 2nd of August, the test will continue with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen doing the driving.
