Sebastian Vettel will kick off Ferrari’s testing programme next Wednesday before he hands over the Italians’ brand-new machine to his teammate Charles Leclerc on the second day of pre-season testing.

Winter testing looks set to be particularly busy this year after teams have agreed to cut down the number of pre-season test days from eight to just six. The shorter period puts even more importance on each individual day and also prompts teams to work out the best schedule for their drivers.

At the Ferrari camp, it has been decided that Sebastian Vettel will take the team’s new car, the SF1000 to the track when pre-season testing begins at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit next Wednesday.

After testing Pirelli’s 2021 18-inch tyres on on February 9, Charles Leclerc will first roll on to the Spanish track on Thursday. Due to the congested test schedule, the Maranello-based team will re-set the driving position during the Thursday lunch break for Vettel who takes over the driving duties for the afternoon. The Monegasque will then drive the SF1000 for all of Friday.

Ferrari is yet to decide over the schedule for the second week of pre-season testing which it will do after studying the data from the first three days.

Similar programme for Haas

Formula One’s American outfit, the Haas F1 Team has already laid down the schedule for the entire pre-season testing.

Kevin Magnussen will commence testing on Wednesday, Feb. 19, with Grosjean behind the wheel on Thursday, Feb. 20. The programme then sees the driving position re-set in the lunch break with the Frenchman running in the morning while Magnussen working in the afternoon.

The second week will see Grosjean driving on the opening day before he hands his new VF-20 over to his teammate for the second day. On the ultimate day of winter testing, the pair will split the programme once again.