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Formula 1

Barcelona F1 test day one

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Sebastian Vettel is up over 150 laps now, currently on his 153rd lap. Impressive stuff.
What’s going wrong at Williams? The Autosport team discusses the British outfit’s plight after it emerged it is almost certain to have to wait until at least Wednesday to start its testing programme.
Vettel is out, but just before, Verstappen jumps up to third in the order after a brief spell in the pits.
Hamilton is skirting very close to a personal best time on this set of C2s, but he's not quite close enough yet. Kvyat is also struggling to match his personal best on the C4s.
Grosjean has pitted after that impressive run which netted him second fastest time. Verstappen has replaced him on track in a bid to add to his 102 laps.
Kvyat is back on the rarely-used C4 tyre, one step down from Pirelli's softest offering – the C5.

Grosjean is a decent way into his stint on the C3, while Hamilton laps on the C2. Confused yet?
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Three drivers have now completed 100 laps or more:

Vettel - 149
Sainz - 102
Verstappen - 101
Raikkonen - 95
Bottas - 69
Hulkenberg - 65
Hamilton - 60
Kvyat - 59
Grosjean - 52
Ricciardo - 44
Perez - 30
Ricciardo enters the pits and then rejoins quickly after, as does Hamilton.

Kvyat is now back on track, looking to improve on his fifth place in the order.
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Here's how the leaderboard stands with less than an hour remaining:

1 Vettel (Ferrari) 1m18.161s
2 Grosjean (Haas) 1m19.320s
3 Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1m19.462s
4 Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m19.600s
5 Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1m19.635s
6 Perez (Force India) 1m19.944s
7 Bottas (Mercedes) 1m20.127s
8 Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m20.135s
9 Sainz (McLaren) 1m20.430s
10 Hulkenberg (Renault) 1m20.980s
11 Ricciardo (Renault) 1m20.983s
Hamilton joins Grosjean and Ricciardo on track. Grosjean has done a couple of laps in the 1m19s thanks to a cool down lap for his C3 tyres earlier on.
Hamilton is back out on track. He and fellow afternoon-only runner Ricciardo have only used the C2 tyre and that continues.

There's a quick practice start for Hamilton, and then he's good to go.
Vettel has pitted from a lengthy spell on the C3 tyre.
Grosjean adds a personal best middle sector and a best last sector to steal second in the order, with a 1m19.320s. That's a scorcher.
There's no sign of any green (for improvement) on our timing screen at the Circuit de Catalunya. Vettel, Grosjean, Sainz and Ricciardo letting the side down.

No, wait...Grosjean pulls one back with a personal best first sector.
Grosjean is back out in the Haas, attempting to make up for a lengthy spell in the garage this morning after the car stopped on track with a fuel pressure issue. Still, 44 laps so far considering is not bad, and it's still more than Racing Point.
Sainz is back out for McLaren to add to his decent lap count of 95, so far.
Raikkonen and Vettel are both going for longer runs here it seems, as neither are anywhere near their personal best times, set on the same tyres respectively.
Ricciardo improves, that's a 1m20.983s for the debuting Aussie. Unfortunately, the improvement still means bottom of the timing screens.
Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Vettel on track now.

Ricciardo has been on the C2 tyre all afternoon, while Raikkonen and Ricciardo run on the softer C3.

Remember, the higher the number (one-five) the softer the tyre.
The shadows are starting to become longer as the evening draws in at Barcelona

The shadows are starting to become longer as the evening draws in at Barcelona

McLaren has had some tough pre-season tests in recent history, and while it's difficult to evaluate performance in its entirety at the first test on the first day, the lap count is encouraging as it sits second after Ferrari and Red Bull.
Vettel slipped back out on track after a quick tour through the pits. He's on the C3 tyre.
Everyone has pitted now, it's just Raikkonen out on track in the Alfa Romeo. Still not quite used to typing either of those things without a) Ferrari and b) Sauber. We'll learn.
Bottom of the order in terms of laps complete is Racing dot and driver Sergio Perez. What's going on there? Only 30 laps complete, a total Daniel Ricciardo has already beaten having only been in the car for a few hours.
Sainz pits from an uneventful run on the C2 tyre. Verstappen joins him after hitting 101 laps. The current lap leader, Vettel (138), has just returned to the track.
The second-placed driver in the order, Kimi Raikkonen, is back on track.
Verstappen is the second driver to reach triple digits in terms of laps completed. That's an incredible turnaround from Red Bull Honda's late start this morning.
Grosjean has pitted. Still out on track are Verstappen, Kvyat, Hamilton and Sainz.
Hamilton has just got very close to his personal best as well, less than a tenth actually, after a cool down lap.
Kvyat had a lush cool-down lap and then put in his best sector, but he's just missed out on improving his current fourth-best time of the day. He's backed off in the first sector of the next lap, too.
Kvyat gives us a dash of red on the tyre front, setting a new personal best of 1m19.635s on a set of C4 tyres in the Toro Rosso. He's back up to fourth.
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Time for another lap count:

Vettel - 137
Verstappen - 95
Sainz - 89
Raikkonen - 85
Bottas - 69
Hulkenberg - 65
Kvyat - 51
Hamilton - 49
Grosjean - 39
Perez - 30
Ricciardo - 31
Grosjean improves again in the Haas, staying fourth with a 1m19.651s.
Hamilton is approaching the 50-lap mark for the afternoon, and he's just lapped four tenths down on his best so far today.
After a cooldown lap, Verstappen's next effort is a 1m20.9s, more than a second adrift of his best.
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Here's another check-in on times, with 90 minutes of running remaining this afternoon. Vettel is still a long way out in front:


1 Vettel (Ferrari) 1m18.161s
2 Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1m19.483s
3 Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m19.600s
4 Grosjean (Haas) 1m19.802s
5 Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1m19.901s
6 Perez (Force India) 1m19.944s
7 Bottas (Mercedes) 1m20.127s
8 Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m20.135s
9 Sainz (McLaren) 1m20.430s
10 Hulkenberg (Renault) 1m20.980s
11 Ricciardo (Renault) 1m21.253s
Grosjean improves again on this run on C3 tyres, moving up to fourth with a 1m19.802s.
Verstappen has emerged on a set of C3 tyres, and he's set a time just two tenths shy of his best from earlier.
Last week was our first chance to see the majority of F1’s 2019 challengers, but we did have to wait until this morning to see the new Racing Point - and to get a full look at Alfa Romeo’s C38. Jake Boxall-Legge and Gary Anderson discuss the two cars, and the early talking points from the first day of testing.
Grosjean definitely heard how unimpressed we were with his first lap, so he tried on the next one and he's improved to a 1m19.940s.

By: Geoff Creighton

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