Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Lando Norris (McLaren) lead the way.
BARCELONA, Spain—When last year’s Formula One season ended, many thought that the only teams that could challenge Mercedes and Red Bull were McLaren and Ferrari. Perception became reality, at least on the first day of 2022 F1 testing, which took place on Wednesday at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
Most of the day was dominated by Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari. The Monegasque led most of the day, clocking a 1:20:165 for 80 laps. Then, with only a half an hour left in the day’s session, McLaren’s Lando Norris put on a set of C4 tires and blazed the trail, overtaking Leclerc’s best time with a 1:19:568. What’s more, the Briton claimed 103 laps for the day.
Lando Norris: I think we did want to do a few more laps than what we did today, but we still learned a lot of things. With the new regulations, these days are more important than ever. They’re crucial for the development over the next one, two, three, four months, maybe more. It’s important to understand everything.
Carlos Sainz Jr. followed up his Ferrari teammate by keeping close and finishing in third, while Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, in what was a normal routine for the Silver Arrows, racked up 127 miles between them, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
The battle for the midfield took place for the next three positions as Sebastian Vettel took sixth in his Aston Martin ahead of Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. Right behind them was defending world champion Max Verstappen in his Red Bull with its side pod design that is the curiosity of all journalists. It did not prove much of an advantage, though. as the Dutchman clocked a 1:22:246 for 147 laps. Former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was next in his new Alfa Romeo, taking tenth, which was impressive because it was a real test for him in a new car.
Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi were 11th and 14th, respectively, with the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in 13th. Alfa Romeo’s second tester, Robert Kubica, finished 16th and last. As for the two Haas F1 drivers, Mick Schumacher took a respectable 12th, while Nikita Mazepin was 15th.
It was impressive to see that not one crash or malfunction took place on opening day. It demonstrates that these new machines are more reliable than anticipated.
