Just over two months after a curtain-down that ended in controversy and the coronation of Max Vertappen in Abu Dhabi, Formula 1 resumed its rights on Wednesday on the occasion of the first of six days of testing preparatory.
The 2022 season marks the beginning of a new era in the queen discipline of motorsport with the introduction of new single-seaters to comply with an overhaul of the regulations intended to encourage more muscular debates on the track.
While the debut of these new cars has been delayed for a year due to the pandemic, everything is now in place and 16 drivers were able to perform their first laps on the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit on Wednesday.
From the outset, it should be mentioned that the results obtained by each are rather symbolic since the ten teams on the board have rather applied themselves to evaluating the behavior of their new mounts without revealing the quantity of fuel on board nor the various adjustments that they adopted.
Softer tires
What we do know, however, is that Briton Lando Norris set the fastest time of the day (in 1 min 19.568 s) when his McLaren was fitted with the softest tires (C4) and the most efficient. used on this first day.
The six other drivers who follow in the order achieved their best result with slightly harder tires (C3). In addition, four of them, including Lance Stroll, obtained their reference times with C2 tires, which are even harder.
The Quebecer concluded his first day with the 13and fastest time aboard his Aston Martin, after 67 laps, after succeeding his teammate Sebastian Vettel. The other Canadian, Nicholas Latifi (66 laps), followed his compatriot with the 14and rank, although his Williams was fitted with C3 tyres.
twice the distance
The prize for the busiest driver certainly goes to Max Verstappen who, at the wheel of his Red Bull fitted with C2 tyres, covered 147 laps of the circuit, or just over twice the distance of the Spanish Grand Prix. The name of the reigning world champion appears in ninth position on the table.
If teams have instead opted for an alternation between their pilots, others have chosen to bring out only one of their representatives. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) were notably limited to an observer role on Wednesday, but they will take over from their partner on Thursday.
The teams only have one single-seater at their disposal.
As for Alfa Romeo, it has decided to entrust the wheel to its reserve driver Robert Kubica, who however only completed nine laps in the morning.
Valtteri Bottas, defector from Mercedes, finished tenth in his first contact at Alfa Romeo. The Finn’s teammate, Guanyu Zhou, will undergo his baptism on Thursday. Next month he will become the very first Chinese driver to start an F1 Grand Prix.
Beneficial break
After having silenced all the rumors about a possible retirement or a sabbatical year, Lewis Hamilton did not hide his enthusiasm in anticipation of the new season which will start in Bahrain next March 20.
“I’m fresher than ever,” he said at a press conference. This break [où il a été guère actif sur les réseaux sociaux contrairement à ses habitudes] was beneficial for me. I now feel very motivated to take up the collar again. »
The Briton, who covets an eighth title, unheard of in the specialty, completed 50 laps of the circuit stopping the clock at 1 min 20.929 s, which earned him the fifth fastest time of this initial day.
His new teammate and compatriot, George Russell (1 min 20.784 s), edged him out to fourth.
Results
First day of winter testing
Circuit Barcelona-Catalonia (Spain)
