Pre-Season Testing Barcelona – Day 1: Vettel the Fastest, Hamilton Unstoppable

The day was very important at the Circuit de Catalunya. Nearly three months after the ultimate Grand Prix of the 2015 season in Abu Dhabi, the 11 teams gathered in Montmelo in the Barcelona suburbs for the first laps of the season. Drivers, mechanics, and engineers will have until Thursday evening for four driving sessions to glimpse the first on-track prospects of their car.

At precisely 9 o’clock in the morning, the first kickoff of the 2016 season was given. Carlos Sainz Junior in his Toro Rosso with a midnight blue design was the very first driver to take the track, which was still wet at that hour. The Spaniard was accompanied by Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, and Jolyon Palmer. A rather reassuring sign was that the Renault Sport F1 Team did not miss the call of the first hour with its English driver.

09:00, Barcelona. The R.S.16 is a GO. pic.twitter.com/STYMMZSTfD

— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) February 22, 2016

The installation laps followed one after the other for most of the drivers. After 25 minutes, Daniel Ricciardo set the very first time of the season with a lap of 1:40.746. Nevertheless, it took an hour to see Romain Grosjean’s first lap on track with his Haas F1 Team. The moment was therefore solemn for the American team, even though the car had already been able to run this weekend as part of a shakedown.

Here we gooooo !!!!

#r8g #f1 #wintertesting #newtoy pic.twitter.com/0OiBWTX6UA

— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) February 22, 2016

The morning passed and the track was drying: the drivers gradually switched from intermediate tires to those intended for dry conditions. Sebastian Vettel was then focused on assessing his aerodynamic options, as evidenced by the large sensors mounted on the SF16-H.

Sebastian Vettel getting to grips with the new @ScuderiaFerrari SF16-H early on in Winter Testing #F1IsBack pic.twitter.com/cu93qrk88r

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 22, 2016

In terms of times, the best performances at midday were credited to Vettel and Hamilton. 1:24.939 for the German and 1:25.409 for the Englishman at the time when the lunch break was observed between one and two o’clock. It should be noted here that both cars were equipped with identical tires at the time of their best lap (mediums).

Behind them, Bottas’s Williams posted a very respectable time of 1:26.019. However, the gaps are more significant with the rest of the pack: Daniel Ricciardo is in 4th place with a time of 1:26.704. The only interruption of the morning was when Romain Grosjean caused a red flag after losing his front wing on the main straight. The French driver was nevertheless able to return to his pit without any major incident.

@RGrosjean without a #frontwing in his @HaasF1Team #F1Testing #F12016 #F1 pic.twitter.com/0s3HZ457gr

— sutton-images.com (@suttonimages) February 22, 2016

Provisional ranking at midday:

CLASSIFICATION: MORNING SESSION, DAY ONE #F1IsBack #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/HvZ47hvWcu

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 22, 2016

Ferrari got off to a good start on this first morning of running. But reliability and consistency seem especially present for the Grays, with 66 laps completed in 4 hours, already the equivalent of the 2015 Spanish Grand Prix held on this same track!

In the afternoon, the hierarchy became fixed. Only Daniel Ricciardo repeatedly improved his morning time. The smiling Australian reached the level of times set by Bottas’s Williams, still with medium tires. Bottas’s Williams and Grosjean’s Haas remained discreet; it must be said that it was time for repairs on the American team’s side after the front wing issue. In the last positions of the standings, Pascal Wehrlein gradually improved his mark to surpass the best time of the Renault driven by Palmer.

Beyond the early days, it was also interesting to hear the first sounds of the 2016 version.

It’s the sound we’ve all been waiting to hear 🏎#F1IsBack and the @WilliamsRacing FW38 means business… 💪 https://t.co/w03PxdqHbe

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 22, 2016

And notably that of the R.S16:

BACK ON (THE) TRACK@RenaultSportF1 are back, ladies and gentlemen…#F1IsBack #F1Testing https://t.co/1dvXthZxFK

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 22, 2016

The afternoon was coming to an end and the day was fading, marking the final moments of this day of driving.

Here is the final ranking at the end of this day of testing:

Test 1, Day 1: done! 37 laps, plenty to be discussed, analysed, calculated, reviewed, processed, etc, etc. #TestLife pic.twitter.com/7KEiyXf3HJ

— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) 22 Février 2016

More productive than his little comrades, Lewis Hamilton therefore chained the laps, all with an average time between 1’26” and 1’29”. It was not uncommon for the triple world champion to complete a series of several laps, each a tenth of a second apart. In the end, the Englishman finished this first day with 155 laps completed, setting a new record for a first day of testing. The session was apparently very productive for the reigning world champion team, with Hamilton already focusing on long stints. This demonstrates the level of confidence in pure performance.

Different strategy on the side of Ferrari where Vettel settled for short stints, likely carrying a smaller amount of fuel. Of course, the times at this point in the season are still very insignificant. We will have to wait for summaries of other test days before getting a clearer idea of the forces at play…

On the side of pleasant surprises, it can be noted that Pascal Wehrlein was able to complete 54 laps driving his Manor, eventually securing 9th place overall. Similarly, for his first day with Haas, Romain Grosjean was able to get back on the track and cover 31 laps of the Montmelo circuit. We’ve seen more difficult starts for a new team. Satisfaction was already present at McLaren, which managed to complete 83 laps, with a final 6th place. It had been a long time since the Woking team had experienced a day with so few technical issues.

We can also note that for his first day driving a Formula 1, Alfonso Celis Jr had a quite honorable day, with 88 laps and the 5th best performance of the day.

On the other hand, Jolyon Palmer did no better than 11th, with the second lowest number of laps completed. Let’s hope this doesn’t foreshadow a very complicated season for the Enstone team.

Let us also recall that Sauber will not be running this week with its 2016 model but rather with the 2015 one.