Bottas dominates first morning of winter testing in Barcelona

The ranking is necessarily anecdotal at this very early stage of the season, but history will record that Valtteri Bottas set the best time on the first morning of winter testing for Formula 1 2020 this Wednesday in Barcelona. 

Fitted with a medium Pirelli C3, the driver Mercedes clocks a time of 1'17''313. As a comparison, Sebastian Vettel stopped the clock at a mark of 1'18'161 last year at this time.

The four-time world champion was due to take to the track this morning but the German ultimately gave way to his teammate Ferrari Charles Leclerc because he was not feeling very well before leaving the Catalan circuit.

Behind Bottas is Sergio Pérez, whose Racing Point RP20 looks extremely similar to last year's Mercedes. The Mexican failed just 62 thousandths behind the mark set by the Finn and was also riding on the C3 compound.

Max Verstappen completes the leading trio aboard the Red Bull RB16 with Honda engine. The Dutchman is the most diligent on the track this morning with 91 laps on the clock at midday. Verstappen was playing in hard C2 during his best attempt. It precedes the McLaren MCL35 Carlos Sainz, the only other C2 car in the ranking, and the Renault RS20Esteban Ocon which we were finally able to see in action with its temporary black livery. 

George Russell takes the 6th time aboard the Williams FW43. After the nightmare of last year, where the Grove team missed the first two days of running in Barcelona, ​​Williams can already breathe a sigh of relief. The Briton is ahead of Leclerc, who is currently content with 7th fastest time with the new Ferrari SF1000. 

Reservist past Alfa Romeo during the winter, Robert Kubica got the ball rolling for the Hinwil team, whose new C39 was unveiled at the very beginning of the day. The Pole ends the morning with the 8th time and precedes the Haas VF-20 Kevin Magnussen, who had a small scare at turn 9 at the end of the session, and the Alpha Tauri AT01 of Daniil Kvyat. 

No major incident occurred during these first laps in Catalonia. The tests resume at 14:00 p.m. and can still be followed via our live text.