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Lewis Hamilton ends day one on top

Published on 27 Feb 2017 17:52
8
By: Fergal Walsh

Lewis Hamilton ended the first day of pre-season testing on top with a lap time of 1 minute 21.765. The Briton took over the car from team mate Valtteri Bottas after lunch, racking up 73 laps compared to Bottas' 79.

Sebastian Vettel should be relatively happy with his day, as he finished a tenth behind the Mercedes. However, more importantly he clocked up 129 laps, the most of any driver today.

Felipe Massa was third with a fastest lap of 1 minute 22.076, and was the only other driver to surpass the 100 lap mark, finishing the day with 103 laps. Kevin Magnussen in the Haas was fourth, finishing on 51 laps. The Dane spun his car at turn 10, damaging the front wing but nothing major to halt progress.

Daniel Ricciardo had an initial scare at the start of the session when he was forced to park the car at turn 4 due to a sensor issue. A battery problem also emerged at around 3.PM, but the Australian still ended his day fifth with 50 laps.

Bottas was sixth, with his best lap time 1.404 seconds slower than his new team mate. Sergio Perez suffered from an exhaust issue in the afternoon, racking up 39 laps with his best lap time slotting him into seventh.

Toro Rosso's visually impressive new car was eighth with 52 laps to its name. Hulkenberg's Renault was ninth, setting five more laps that the above Toro Rosso.

McLaren started their pre-season in torrid circumstances when an oil issue was discovered in the car. Fernando Alonso was sidelined for many hours before coming back out, but only managed 23 laps which saw him finish in tenth.

Marcus Ericsson's Sauber managed 73 laps, ending the driver list from the first day of pre-season testing. Be sure to join us again tomorrow for day two.

Fergal Walsh

Circuit de Catalunya - 27 February 2017

Driver

Team

Time

Difference

#
1

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:21.765

73
2

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

1:21.878

+0.113

129
3

Felipe Massa

Williams

1:22.076

+0.311

103
4

Kevin Magnussen

Haas F1

1:22.894

+1.129

51
5

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing

1:22.926

+1.161

50
6

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes

1:23.169

+1.404

79
7

Sergio Perez

Force India

1:23.709

+1.944

39
8

Carlos Sainz jr

Toro Rosso

1:24.494

+2.729

52
9

Nico Hülkenberg

Renault

1:24.784

+3.019

57
10

Fernando Alonso

McLaren

1:24.852

+3.087

29
11

Marcus Ericsson

Sauber

1:26.841

+5.076

73

Harryw

Posts: 107

Worrying time for McLaren fans

1
Feb 27 2017 - 21:27

F1 News Fernando Alonso Valtteri Bottas Felipe Massa Daniel Ricciardo Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Marcus Ericsson Sergio Perez Kevin Magnussen Sauber Mercedes McLaren Renault

Replies (8)

mclarenfan1968

Posts: 1,027
Dat Ferrari reliability and pace on the harder compound is reminiscent of Mercedes' 2015 and 2016 form in testing.... Got to see if that continues.
- + 0
- Feb 27 2017 - 18:21
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Yeah, that was impressive. A bit worrying to see Mercedes in front already though. I doubt Haas' or Red Bull's positions are representative.
  + 0
  
  Feb 27 2017 - 19:42
- mclarenfan1968
  
  Posts: 1,027
  Turdboy was on soft so was Bottas, nothing impressive there to be concerned. Infact even Ferrari's times is meaningless without context of fuelloads but them showing reliability is more interesting.
  + 0
  
  Feb 28 2017 - 02:12
f1fan0101

Posts: 1,804
Good day from Ferrari, I'd be worried if I was Red Bull and McLaren
- + 0
- Feb 27 2017 - 18:25
- mclarenfan1968
  
  Posts: 1,027
  Nothing to be worried about Mclaren, they are not going to be competitive overnight even with regulation changes, Mclaren are staring from a very low baseline. Only the naive will expect them to fight for wins let alone title. Targeting podiums would be considered already a massive improvement.
  + 1
  
  Feb 28 2017 - 02:11
LightIsRight

Posts: 113
I would be worried if I was McLaren regardless. That colour scheme makes them look like a back marker and look where they are. I really hope they pull through
- + 0
- Feb 27 2017 - 19:17
Harryw

Posts: 107
Worrying time for McLaren fans
- + 1
- Feb 27 2017 - 21:27
Patentprutser

Posts: 392
Why are the compounds not visible in the ranking?
- + 0
- Feb 28 2017 - 10:53