The first of a three-day pre-season test saw Max Verstappen top the timesheets completing a total of 157 laps – more than anyone else as he was the only driver to do both the morning and afternoon sessions.
His time was just 0.029s quicker than Alonso’s in the Aston Martin, however, the Spaniard completed his fastest lap on a track that was 15 degrees cooler compared to when the reigning champion managed a 1m32.837.
Both set times on the C3 compound of tyre – which was run by most of the teams, with Alex Albon being the only driver to complete his fastest run on the C4 in the Williams.
Despite Aston Martin’s strong lap, they were hindered by issues throughout the day. Felipe Drugovich – standing in for the injured Lance Stroll – stopped on track during an installation with an electronics issue in the morning and Alonso sat at the first portion of the afternoon session with floor damage.
The Ferrari appeared to have some low frequency bouncing. Sainz and Leclerc ended the day in 3rd and 4th with just 0.014s separating them.
Mercedes on the other hand didn’t struggle from bouncing or aerodynamic porpoising, and team principal Toto Wolff said that Russell was “generally happy with the car” according to The Race and revealed the W14 “seems to be balanced the right way.”
Hamilton finished 6th fastest with his teammate in 9th, the pair completed a combined total of 152 laps.
McLaren had a brake cooling issue in the evening which melted the insides of the wheelbrows. It’s a worrying issue considering the team had the same problems during testing and the early phases of the season last year.
Nevertheless, Norris posted the fifth fastest time with new teammate Oscar Piastri doing the running for the British team in the morning.
Despite Red Bull looking ominous in terms of pace, it’s impossible to get a true reading as there are many unknowns to consider such as fuel load, engine modes etc.
The opening day is about correlating data from the simulations to the real world more than anything else.
DAY ONE TIMES
1. Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m32.837s, C3, 157 laps
2. Alonso (Aston Martin) 1m32.866s, C3, 60 laps
3. Sainz (Ferrari) 1m33.253s, C3, 72 laps
4. Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m33.267s, C3, 64 laps
5. Norris (McLaren) 1m33.462s, C3, 40 laps
6. Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m33.508s, C3, 83 laps
7. Albon (Williams) 1m33.671s, C4, 74 laps
8. Zhou (Alfa Romeo) 1m33.723s, C3, 67 laps
9. Russell (Mercedes) 1m34.174s, C3, 69 laps
10. Sargeant (Williams) 1m34.324s, C3, 75 laps
11. Hulkenberg (Haas) 1m34.424s, C3, 51 laps
12. Bottas (Alfa Romeo) 1m34.558s, C3, 71 laps
13. De Vries (AlphaTauri) 1m34.559s, test, 85 laps
14. Drugovich (Aston Martin) 1m34.564s, C3, 40 laps
15. Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) 1m34.671s, C3, 46 laps
16. Gasly (Alpine) 1m34.822s, C2, 60 laps
17. Ocon (Alpine) 1m34.871s, C2, 53 laps
18. Piastri (McLaren) 1m34.888s, C3, 52 laps
19. Magnussen (Haas) 1m35.087s, C3, 57 laps
Photo: Formula 1