Barcelona I, day 1: Vettel sets the pace

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel ended the opening day of pre-season Formula One testing at the top of the timesheet, finishing almost half a second clear of Lewis Hamilton but it was the Mercedes driver who put in the biggest workload, posting a staggering 156 laps of the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya. Daniel Ricciardo was third fastest for Red Bull Racing.

Hamilton’s total for the day amount to 726km in the W07, over 30km more than team-mate Nico Rosberg achieved with its predecessor on day one of testing last year. Mercedes’ tally for the day was 68 laps clear of the day’s nest busiest man, Sauber’s Marcus Ericcson who managed 88 laps on his way to a best time of 1.27.555. The Swede’s time, set in the 2015 Sauber C34, was 2.616 seconds off the pace set by Vettel.

The German put in 69 laps across his first day at the wheel of the new SF16-H, posting 36 in the morning, 33 in the afternoon. His best lap, a 1:24.939, came shortly before the lunch break and was set on medium tyres.

“The car is a step forward,” said Vettel afterwards. “It was the first proper day and it was good to get some laps and a first feel for the car. The first impression was very positive.”

Speaking of his table-topping time Vettel was dismissive. “It’s better to be first in one month’s time. It’s better than being last but it’s not really important.”

Hamilton and Ricciardo, too, set their best times on the medium compound Pirelli rubber, with Ricciardo managing 87 laps of the Barcelona track.

The Red Bull Racing driver spent some time in the team’s garage in the morning session as the team chased a minor technical niggle ands managed only 20 laps before the lunch break but running consistently in the afternoon Ricciardo worked his way to a best time of 1:26.044.

Like his former team-mate Vettel, Ricciardo was pleased with his first day’s work.

“That was pretty good. I think we had a few niggles but we still managed almost 90 laps,” he said. “The car feels familiar, it doesn’t feel strange and that’s positive. I think last year we ended the season quite well, the car was good, and this feels similar. First impressions are positive but it’s still too early to say much more. We had a good day and I’m ready for more.”

The Australian’s best time put him just under five hundredths of a second clear of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, who also set his best time on medium tyres.

In fifth place came Force India’s new development driver Alfonso Celis. The 19-year-old Mexican GP3 graduate logged 58 laps in the VJM09, setting a best time of 1:26.298 on the soft Pirelli tyre. He was followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button who also used the soft tyre to set time a time of 1:26.735. Button posted 84 laps of the circuit, five more than his Honda-powered team managed across all of last year’s opening test in Jerez.

Carlos Sainz was seventh for Toro Rosso, 2.2s adrift of Vettel. The Spaniard ran in an unmarked car ahead of the unveiling of the team’s new livery next week.

With Ericsson eighth, Pascal Wehrlein slotted into ninth place on his debut with the Manor squad. The Mercedes protégé logged 54 laps and a best time 3.3s behind Vettel. The bulk of Wehrlein’s laps were turned in the afternoon as the team spent the morning readying its car.

The day also saw the debut of the American-operated Haas F1 Team. Romain Grosjean had the honour of giving the team’s first F1 car the VF16 its first outing and he ended up 10th on the timesheet with a best lap of 1:28.399.

The new team’s day wasn’t entirely without issue as Grosjean suffered a front wing failure on his car, a problem that restricted his running. The final spot on the timesheet was taken by Jolyon Palmer for the returning Renault team.