The first day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at Circuit de Catalunya, in Barcelona, was an intriguing affair with Mercedes and Ferrari showing strong pace and delivering handy mileage with Williams impressing, while Red Bull and McLaren endured a tough start to proceedings, but did get some useful running before the chequered flag waved at the end of day.
Lewis Hamilton was quickest of all with a best time of 1:21.765, set on soft tyres in the afternoon session in which he completed trouble free 73 laps.
Earlier in the morning Valtteri Bottas got his first taste of the works Mercedes, ending the session second fastest and adapting well to his new team in the process. The world champions are certain to have a good car again this year.
Hamilton and Bottas were the only drivers to share testing duties on the day.
It was also good news for Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel fastest in the morning stanza and ending the day with 128 laps on his chart and the second fastest time which, notably, was set with medium Pirelli tyres.
Felipe Massa was third fastest, the new Williams showing handy pace and enjoyed a period at the top of the timing sheets during the afternoon session.
Kevin Magnussen got his first taste of the Ferrari powered Haas at full power and ended the day fourth quickest and with 51 laps to his credit..
After a trouble packed morning Daniel Ricciardo managed a good run in the afternoon session, racking up 50 laps in total and ending the day fifth quickest.
Report in progress…
Barcelona Day 1, Monday – Best Lap Times
| Driver | Team | Time | Laps | Tyres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:21.765 | 73 | S |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:21.878 | 128 | M |
| 3 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:22.076 | 103 | S |
| 4 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:22.894 | 51 | S |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1:22.926 | 50 | S |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:23.169 | 79 | S |
| 7 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:23.709 | 39 | S |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1:24.494 | 51 | M |
| 9 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:24.784 | 57 | M |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1:24.852 | 29 | S |
| 11 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:26.841 | 72 | M |
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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