Lewis Hamilton was fastest for Mercedes on the first day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. The three time World Champion was in the Mercedes W08 during the afternoon session, sharing testing duties with his new team mate, Valtteri Bottas. Bottas was in the car in the morning part of the session.
Hamilton ended the session with the fastest lap of a 1:21.765 and a total of 73 laps of running. This lap however, was set on the faster soft compound tyre – a compound that not every team used. In total, Mercedes racked up an impressive 152 laps over the course of the day.
Sebastian Vettel ended the day in second fastest for Ferrari, completing 128 laps in the new SF70H. Vettel ended the session only 0.113 seconds behind Hamilton, setting a 1:21.878 lap time. This lap however, was run on the medium tyre – a slower compound that the softs that Mercedes used.
Felipe Massa was third fastest for Williams, posting a lap time 1:22.076 on the soft compound tyre. The F1 veteran completed an impressive 103 laps over the course of the day.
Kevin Magnussen was fourth fastest for the Haas F1 Team after setting a lap time of 1:22.894 on the soft compound tyre, completing a total of 51 laps.
Daniel Ricciardo closely followed Magnussen in fifth fastest, setting a lap time of 1:22.926 also on the soft tyres. The Australian completed 51 laps for Red Bull Racing.
Valtteri Bottas was sixth fastest for Mercedes, completing a 1:23.169 lap time.
Sergio Perez was seventh fastest for Force India, completing 39 laps and setting a time of 1:23.709.
Carlos Sainz Jr followed Perez in the Toro Rosso, completing a 1:24.494 lap time and 51 laps.
Nico Hulkenberg ended the session in ninth place for Renault, followed by Fernando Alonso for McLaren in tenth.
Marcus Ericsson rounded out the session in 11th place for Sauber, completing 72 laps and setting a lap time of 1:26.841.
‘Unlucky For Some’
It is without surprise that a number of teams encountered issues on the first day of pre-season testing. One such team was Red Bull Racing who had Daniel Ricciardo in the car.
After four laps of running in the morning part of the test, the Red Bull stopped out on track after completing only four laps, with the issue being a sensor problem according to the team. In the afternoon session, the potential title challengers encountered another issue, this time from the battery. Nevertheless, Red Bull managed to resolve the issues, allowing the team to complete 50 laps over the course of the day.
Red Bull Racing however, were not the only team to encounter struggles, with reliability also plaguing McLaren.
After a one installation lap this morning, Fernando Alonso was forced to return to the pits in the MCL-32 after a problem with the oil system which marked the end of the entire morning session for McLaren. The team however changed the engine for the afternoon session which allowed McLaren to get back out on track, completing only 29 laps in total.
F1 pre-season testing returns tomorrow for the second say of the first pre-season test in Barcelona, Spain.
Results from Day 1 of Pre-Season Testing:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:21.765 – softs (73 laps)
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:21.878 (128 laps)
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:22.076 – softs (103 laps)
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1, 1:22.894 – softs (51 laps)
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 1:22.926 – softs (50 laps)
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 1:23.169 – softs (79 laps)
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:23.709 – softs (39 laps)
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1:24.494 (51 laps)
- Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1:24.784 (57 laps)
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:24.852 – softs (39 laps)
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:26.841 (72 laps)
