The seven-time world champion, the sport's most successful driver with 105 grand prix victories and 202 podiums, said at an event for Ferrari partner Puma on Tuesday night that the excitement was building.
Mercedes said the W17 car completed 67 laps and nearly 200km without any problems.
Formula One's 2026 season opens at the Australian Grand Prix with sweeping chassis and power unit changes, new overtake modes and sustainable fuel ushering in a bold but uncertain new era.
Leclerc and teammate Lewis Hamilton were eighth and 10th in the season-opener in Australia and finished fifth and sixth in China two weeks ago before both cars were disqualified for technical infringements.
Ferrari appointed Zhou Guanyu as a Formula One reserve driver on Wednesday after the Chinese lost his race seat with Swiss-based Sauber.
The 40-year-old, who won six of his world championships at Mercedes, also unveiled a new bright yellow helmet, as he continues his first official week at Ferrari which began at the team's headquarters on Monday.
Hamilton, 40, is getting in some laps behind closed doors with teammate Charles Leclerc under rules that allow a limited amount of track mileage in older F1 cars.
Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were disqualified from the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix after their cars failed post-race checks on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton has expressed his total confidence in Ferrari after the Italian Formula One team's double disqualification in China.
Seven-times World champion Lewis Hamilton failed to stand on the podium all year for the first time in his career.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff accuses rival Formula One engine manufacturers of ganging up to pressure the FIA over a proposed rule change, calling the controversy a "storm in a teacup" ahead of the new season.
An unhappy Lewis Hamilton said his first season with Ferrari had been the worst of his career after he started last in Las Vegas and finished 10th.
Lewis Hamilton celebrated his first Formula One win for Ferrari after leading a Chinese Grand Prix sprint from start to finish in only his second race for the Italian team on Saturday.
'Tomorrow's going to be a challenge, I've never driven this car in the rain.'
Lewis Hamilton said he was 'really enjoying' driving his Ferrari after ending the second morning of Formula One's pre-season testing in Bahrain
Zampella was reportedly driving a Ferrari south along the Crest Highway when the accident occurred. While the video game creator died on the scene in the fire, another passenger was subsequently pronounced dead at a hospital.
McLaren, who secured the constructors' championship in October for the second year in a row, won both titles in the same season for the first time since 1998.
Formula One leader Oscar Piastri put his McLaren on pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Saturday
Speculation about rising competition from global majors has led to shares of major Indian automobile manufacturers such as Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Maruti Suzuki India, and Tata Motors taking a hit on the BSE.
It was the humble bullock cart which saved the day for the mighty Ferrari that became stuck in sand at a beach in Alibaug near Mumbai, according to a viral video.
Lewis Hamilton smashed the Shanghai circuit lap record on his way to a stunning first sprint race pole for Ferrari in China on Friday.
Lewis Hamilton will bring down the curtain on his Mercedes career in Abu Dhabi on Sunday as his past and future Formula One teams, McLaren and Ferrari, fight for a constructors' title to end years of waiting.
A Rolls Royce-shaped watercraft has become a major new attraction off Mumbai's Juhu beach, drawing crowds with its luxury themed 'car in the sea' experience.
Four-times World champion Max Verstappen was given an aerodynamic tow by teammate Yuki Tsunoda to go top on his first flying lap.
Audi launched their debut Formula One livery, outlining a five-year plan to challenge for championships by 2030 as the former Sauber outfit begins a new era.
Virender Sehwag had famously promised to gift his children a Ferrari if they broke his Test record of 319 runs.
Lewis Hamilton will launch his bid to win the drivers' championship at a third F1 team when he makes his much-anticipated debut for Ferrari in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton told reporters at pre-season testing in Bahrain that he had yet to broach the subject of 'Hammer Time' with race engineer Adami.
Stewards at the Brazilian race summoned Leclerc on Friday, acting on a report from the governing FIA's media delegate and after reviewing a written transcript.
India bowling coach Morne Morkel is delighted to see the way Hardik Pandya is shaping up ahead of the T20 World Cup.
McLaren's Lando Norris won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to surge 24 points clear in the Formula One championship on Sunday.
McLaren could clinch their first constructors' crown since 1998 on Sunday if they outscore Ferrari by 21 points at the Qatar F1 Grand Prix.
Norris had shown his pace in final practice when he became the third different driver to top the timesheets in the three sessions, punching out an impressive lap 0.345 faster than anyone else.
Norris last led the standings in April, a gap of 189 days, and had not won a race since Hungary in early August. Sunday was his sixth victory of the season, one less than Piastri, and career 10th.
Oscar Piastri led McLaren teammate and Formula One title rival Lando Norris at the top of the timesheets in sole practice for the Qatar Grand Prix on Friday.
Lando Norris can be crowned champion on Sunday but a win for Oscar Piastri would take the battle down to a final showdown in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday but McLaren's Lando Norris had one hand on the Formula One title after finishing second and stretching his lead over teammate Oscar Piastri to 30 points.
'Honestly, for P8 or P9 it doesn't matter. These are things we agree on internally, and this time it didn't happen.'
Toyota Gazoo Racing, the Japanese car maker's motorsport division, will become title sponsor of the Haas Formula One team next season in a deal that strengthens an existing technical partnership.
McLaren's Lando Norris took pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix sprint on Friday with Mercedes' George Russell denying the Formula One leaders a front row.
