Williams’ Felipe Massa edged the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo on the first day of the final Formula 1 pre-season test in Barcelona.
Massa set the pace with a blistering run in the morning session that produced a personal best 1:19.726 effort on super-soft compound tyres.
The Brazilian’s time was just 0.02s shy of the best lap posted by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas throughout the four days of the last week’s opening pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya.
After being forced to sit out the final day of last week’s test due to a damaged FW40, the session proved valuable for Williams as the Grove squad put 168 laps in the books.
Red Bull showed signs of its true pace with Ricciardo just 0.174s shy of Massa’s benchmark, although the Australian posted the time on ultra-soft compound rubber.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third fastest courtesy of a run on soft tyres in the afternoon that left the Maranello team 0.180s shy of Massa.
Mercedes encountered problems during the morning run when Lewis Hamilton spent time in the garage with a damaged floor.
The Brit’s best time was good enough for fourth ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who took over the car in the afternoon.
Force India enjoyed a strong day as Esteban Ocon recorded 142 laps in sixth.
An engine issue restricted Renault’s Jolyon Palmer to only 15 laps during the morning.
The French manufacturer sent Nico Hulkenberg out in the afternoon who managed 58 laps recording a best time, which was good enough for seventh.
However, the German came to halt on track at the end of the day causing the only red flag.
The top 10 was completed by Kevin Magnussen (Haas F1), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) and Stoffel Vandoorne, who managed 86 laps in another difficult day for McLaren.
The Woking squad had to undergo another Honda engine change after a problem arose early on.
Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein completed 47 laps on his return after a back injury forced him out of the first test.
Testing continues later today.
Result: Formula 1 Second Pre-Season Test Day 1, Barcelona
| Position | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1:19.726s | 168 | |
| 2 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1:19.900s | +0.174s | 89 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:19.906s | +0.180s | 168 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:20.456s | +0.730s | 49 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:20.924s | +1.198s | 86 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | Force India/Mercedes | 1:21.347s | +1.621s | 142 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:21.589s | +1.863s | 58 |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1:21.676s | +1.950s | 81 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1:21.743s | +2.017s | 83 |
| 10 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren/Honda | 1:22.537s | +2.811s | 80 |
| 11 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber/Ferrari | 1:23.336s | +3.610s | 47 |
| 12 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1:23.630s | +3.904s | 53 |
| 13 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:24.790s | +5.064s | 15 |
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