#16 Charles Leclerc (MCO, Scuderia Ferrari) F1 Pre-season Testing in Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit on February 21, 2024 in Sakhir, Bahrain. (Photo by Hoch Zwei Photoagency/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said it is too early to draw a conclusion about the performance of the SF-24.

The Monegasque driver finished in second place during the morning session of the first day of pre-season testing, and his timing was the 7th fastest overall, while his teammate Carlos Sainz was the third fastest behind of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

However, most teams performed discovery runs during the day and didn’t manage to do fast performance runs, so the results are not really representative of what drivers will see during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Speaking with the media after the end of his 64-lap stint, Leclerc said that the team’s “first morning of testing was quite productive, especially in terms of mileage.

“As for the performance, it’s just too early to comment or draw conclusions,” he stated.

“We ran all the tests we planned to and things are going ahead as expected, which is a positive.

“We will continue working and hope to have two more useful days of testing ahead of the Grand Prix.”

His teammate Sainz echoed his comments, saying that “it’s too early to draw any conclusions yet, so we’ll keep maximizing the upcoming two days of running to get ready for the start of the season next week.”

“It felt good to be back properly behind the wheel after the winter break.”