MONTMELO, Spain - For the first time in pre-season testing, Ferrari hinted at the true pace of its 2019 car by setting a time within a tenth of a second of the all-time lap record at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The lap was set on Pirelli's softest compound tyre, the C5, and is the fastest time in testing this year. Prior to the lap, Ferrari's quickest times this year had been set on harder compound tyres, but the combination of low fuel and soft rubber saw Charles Leclerc clock a 1:16.231.
Leclerc completed a number of low-fuel runs in the morning session and, had he hooked up all three of his fastest sectors over a single lap, would have managed a 1:16.