Sainz drives 2022 Ferrari F1 car in Barcelona shakedown

Sainz and teammate Charles Leclerc got the chance to debut the Ferrari F1-75 last week at the team’s home track at Fiorano in a demo run after the team’s launch.

All teams are allowed to do a shakedown with their new cars - 100 kilometres of running on show tyres - to make sure they are working correctly ahead of pre-season testing.

Barcelona hosts the first of two tests with the Spanish venue a popular choice over the years due to its track layout consisting of a variety of high-speed, medium-speed and low-speed corners.

Can confirm, we’re in love #essereFerrari pic.twitter.com/Znx3h9ky8P

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 22, 2022

Ferrari will be hoping the F1-75 hands the team its first title since 2008 when it won the constructors’ championship with Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

The team hasn’t won a drivers’ championship since 2007, while its last win was back in 2019 with Sebastian Vettel in Singapore.

Despite its lack of success, 2021 was a strong year for the Italian team as it recovered to third in the standings, beating McLaren.

Carlos Sainz settled into the team well, scoring several podiums on his way to finishing fifth in the drivers’ championship - only behind Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

Leclerc showed flashes of brilliance such as his pole positions in Monaco and Baku, or his near-win at Silverstone.

With Ferrari’s strong driver line-up, it will be a serious force in both championships should F1’s most successful constructor produce a great car in 2022.