FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Preseason Testing - Vettel tops day one

Sebastian Vettel posted the fastest time and turned the most laps in the new Ferrari SF90 on the opening day of preseason testing at Spain's Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.

Sebastian Vettel, Barcelona 2019
© RV Press

Sebastian Vettel posted the fastest time and turned the most laps in the new Ferrari SF90 on the opening day of preseason testing at Spain's Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.

"We couldn't have hoped for a better day," said Vettel who completed 169 laps, the equivalent of 2.5 race distances. "I think it was unbelievable. The car was working really well, we had no issues slowing us down, we did the program just the way we wanted, we were able to squeeze a little bit more out even. The first impressions were good and strong. The car is working. I certainly got enough laps today. I'm going to sleep well tonight."

In recent years McLaren has had a troubled start in preseason testing. But that was not the case this time as the team's new driver Carlos Sainz turned 119 laps and clocked the second fastest time.

"It looks like our hard work has paid off today," he said. "It's been a very positive start as we've been able to run without big issues, play a bit with the set-up of the car and gather data to analyze.

"There's still a lot of margin to improve the car. Following today's work, we know more clearly the direction we want to try. Now we have the information for a strong debrief, so we will keep working and moving forward."

Haas driver Romain Grosjean wound up third quickest.

"Not the best day today," said Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. "In the morning we had an issue with the control of the fuel pumps, which forced us to stop out on the track. That lost us some time. We made some of that back up in the afternoon and got some running in. We can start to understand the car, but it's much too early to see how good we are."

Valtteri Bottas drove the Mercedes W10 in the morning, and then Lewis Hamilton took over the car for the afternoon.

"Since the car is brand new, we immediately found ways to improve the balance and the behavior," Bottas said, "and we will continue to work on that in the next days."

Hamilton commented: "It feels quite a bit different compared to last year and we're now getting to know it, trying to understand the balance and trying to understand the characteristics we're working with. It's been a positive first day, we got through our running plan and there's lots for us to learn about the new car which we will be working on."

Williams did not participate in the first day as the team is still completing the new FW42.

Preseason Test 1

Day 1 lap times

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) – 1m18.161s – 169 laps

Carlos Sainz (McLaren) – 1m18.558s – 119 laps

Romain Grosjean (Haas) – 1m19.159s – 65 laps

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 1m19.426s – 128 laps

Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) – 1m19.462s – 114 laps

Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) – 1m19.464s – 77 laps

Sergio Perez (Racing Point) – 1m19.944s – 30 laps

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 1m20.127s – 69 laps

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1m20.135s – 81 laps

Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) - 1m20.980s – 65 laps

Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) – 1m20.983s – 44 laps