Bottas stays ahead of the tests, Ilott comes out

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) remained at the top of the time sheet at the end of this first day of testing F1 on the Catalunya circuit in Barcelona. The Finn completed a lap of the Montmelo track in 1'15''511 on the C5 tires, placing just a tenth behind his performance achieved last Saturday in qualifying when he took pole.

The session was disrupted by Callum Ilott's exit from the track (Alfa Romeo). The Briton lost control of his mount at the 3rd turn and damaged his car. The red flag was also displayed following the unscheduled stop in the pit lane of Pierre Gasly (Red Bull) following a mechanical problem. The Frenchman was still able to cover 118 laps.

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) followed more than 1”4 behind, but the Monegasque delivered his best performance on C2 tires. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) completed the top three in front Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) and Pierre Gasly. Carlos Sainz Jr. (McLaren) followed in 6th position ahead of Pietro Fittipaldi (Haas), Nick Yelloly (Racing Point) and Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) who was focused on the Pirelli tests, just like Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) who finished behind Lando Norris (McLaren). Callum Ilott and Nicholas latifi (Williams) completed the ranking, the reserve from the Grove stable having been the most diligent with 134 laps covered

Checked flag! Best times Day 1 #F1Testing
BOT 1:15.511
LEC 1:16.933
KVY 1:17.679
HUL 1:18.051
GAS 1:18.140
SAI 1:18.263
FIT 1:18.326
YELLOLY 1:18.361
VET (P) 1:18.425
NOR 1:18.567
PER (P) 1:19.719
ILO 1:19.819
LAT 1:20.670 pic.twitter.com/nojpb6BRLt

- Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya (@Circuitcat_eng) 14th May 2019

Most laps completed #F1Testing
LAT 134
VET (P) 133
LEC 132
BOT 131
KVY 121
118 . GAS
PE 118
YELLOLY 111
FIT 103
HUL 68
SAI 64
NOR 44
ILO 41 pic.twitter.com/K5tlvt7eOF

- Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya (@Circuitcat_eng) 14th May 2019

F1 testing will continue until this Thursday.