Ricciardo stays ahead, teams cautious in Barcelona

The drastic drop in temperatures on the track (9 degrees) cooled the teams' enthusiasm Monday afternoon near Barcelona (Spain). Few drivers were able to improve their morning time, apart from Romain Grosjean (Haas), Fernando Alonso (McLaren),  Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) and Marcus Ericsson (Alfa Romeo Sauber). With an hour left to play, the rain started. Some cars completed a few laps equipped with Rain tires, obviously far from the reference times.

Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) finished this first day of pre-season testing at the top of the rankings. The Antipodes driver symbolically crossed the mark of 100 completed laps this Monday, an isolated case among all the participants. The top 4 is identical to that of the morning, with Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) ahead of Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) and Nico Hulkenberg (Renault).

Among the drivers who only drove after the lunch break, Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault, 6th) did the best. The Spaniard finishes ahead of the outgoing world champion Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, 7th). The learning process is cautious for the Russian Sergey Sirotkin, who brings up the rear 15 seconds behind the leading Red Bull.

No incident occurred during this session. The second day of testing will begin Tuesday at 9 a.m. and will be followed with us on live text.

Day 1 ranking:

1. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1’20″179 (mediums) / 103 laps
2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1’20″349 (+0″170) – (mediums) / 58 laps
3. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 1’20″506 (+0″327) – (soft) / 80 laps
4. Nico Hülkenberg (Renault) 1’20″547 (+0″368) – (mediums) / 73 laps
5. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1'21''339 (+1''160) – (super soft) / 49 laps
6. Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault) 1'22''168 (+1''989) – (soft) / 26 laps
7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1'22''327 (+2''148) – (mediums) / 25 laps
8. Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) 1’22″371 (+2″192) – (soft) / 93 laps
9. Lance stroll (Williams) 1’22″452 (+2″273) – (soft) / 46 laps
10. Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1'22''578 (+2''399) – (soft) / 55 laps
11. Marcus Ericsson (Alfa Romeo Sauber) 1'23''408 (+3''229) – (soft) / 63 laps
13. Nikita mazepin (Force India) 1'25″628 (+5''449) – (mediums) / 22 laps
14. Sergey Sirotkin (Williams) 1'44''148 (+23''969) – (soft) / 27 laps