The best test time energizes the fans
The absolute best time set at the end of the test by Charles Leclerc has given some hope back to Ferrari fans who, after a lackluster season and a quiet winter, probably didn’t expect to see a red car capable of getting noticed as early as the pre-season tests. And while statistics certainly don’t usually reward drivers who clinch the title of “winter champion” of Formula 1, the attitude on track certainly shows all the desire of the Monegasque driver to return to fighting at the top of the category. And it is perhaps no coincidence that Riccardo Patrese also highlighted the near-anger with which Leclerc took to the track in Bahrain, setting the best times of the session.
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Ferrari, Leclerc’s anger is a resource
“Charles Leclerc – explains the former Italian driver to the site talkSPORT BET Slots – is angry about not having won the championship yet, something that both he and many other people expected him to be able to do. He really wants to become world champion, he’s in the right mood and, if he were to have a competitive car, he could really go head-to-head with someone like Max Verstappen.” Like his former colleague Johnny Herbert, Patrese is nonetheless a bit skeptical due to the fact that in the last 10 years the Prancing Horse has set the best winter time 6 times, without however repeating it in the World Championship standings: “Ferrari did well at the end of the tests. It’s positive for our fans, but many times they have shown they are very good at the beginning of the year and in tests, even if nothing positive happened during the season. So we have to wait and see what happens.”
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Positive signs also from Lewis Hamilton
An aspect to highlight is also the renewed confidence of Lewis Hamilton, who wrote on social media that he has found himself again after the difficult 2025 and remarked in Bahrain how the SF-26 now also has his DNA: “It’s good news that Lewis has this attitude. After the horrible last year, even just seeing Lewis feeling better about himself is good news for Formula 1. In 2025 I felt a bit sorry for him because you could see he was suffering from the situation, he wasn’t competitive and wasn’t finding the right solutions with the car to improve things. If the team can provide him with a good car, I think we can still see him being very competitive. The turning point will be giving Lewis Hamilton a good Ferrari to compete, win races and maybe even the championship.”
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