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Formula 1

Barcelona F1 test day one

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Vettel pits, and we have our first same-coloured-tyres dilemma as it's really difficult to tell if that was the hardest C1 tyre or the also-white but slightly softer C2. That was a run of 15 timed laps.
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Here are the fastest times as things stand - the only change being Hamilton's addition at the foot of the times:

1 Vettel (Ferrari) 1m18.161s
2 Perez (Racing Point) 1m19.944s
3 Bottas (Mercedes) 1m20.127s
4 Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1m20.160s
5 Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m20.174s
6 Sainz (McLaren) 1m20.430s
7 Hulkenberg (Renault)1m20.980s
8 Grosjean (Haas) 1m21.500s
9 Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1m21.732s
10 Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m24.634s
Hamilton is eight seconds slower than Vettel that time around, so they've swapped positions on track and are already quite spaced out from each other again. Photographers, stand down.
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Unsurprisingly, there's little change in the lap totals given only two cars have taken to the track this afternoon:

Vettel - 89
Bottas - 69
Hulkenberg - 65
Sainz - 56
Verstappen - 52
Raikkonen - 46
Kvyat - 35
Perez - 20
Grosjean - 18
Hamilton - 5
Hamilton's leisurely pace to start the afternoon means he's being caught on track by Vettel at the moment. Photographers at the ready...
1m24.634s for Hamilton next time around as he closes in on Kvyat's best.
Hamilton's first time is a 1m27.684s, nearly six seconds off the back of the field.
Hamilton and Vettel are the only drivers on track, but they've somehow managed to be running only a handful of seconds apart. Hamilton is ahead, and about to post his first time of the day, which has included running wide at Turn 7.
Hamilton emerges from the Mercedes garage, having taken over from Bottas. White-marked C2 tyres for the world champion to start his 2019 testing programme.
This feels a bit more 'getting on with the real bit of testing' from Ferrari than this morning's short runs on the C3 tyres where he set those times that nobody else has got near so far. He's already got nine flying laps in the bag on this run, although he's roughly four seconds off his pace from this morning.
No exciting times out of Vettel right now. He's constantly over the 1m22s after setting a 1m18.161s this morning.

He's still the only driver on track.
Autosport
Alfa Romeo's design appears less extreme than the version spotted testing last week, but it still looks like a car capable of leading the midfield fight. Here's our technical analysis of the C38 from GARY ANDERSON and JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE

Toned down Alfa still looks like a midfield leader - F1 - Autosport Plus

Certain elements of Alfa Romeo's new F1 car are less extreme than the version spotted in action last week, but the C38 seen in testing still has the hallmarks of a machine ready to help the team pick up where it left off at the end of last season

Toned down Alfa still looks like a midfield leader - F1 - Autosport Plus
False alarm, just an install lap for Vettel. He's pitted and gone back out again after a brief stop at the end of the pitlane.
Noise! We have noise! Vettel is the first car out after topping the morning-ish session.
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And here's what the initial lap count looks like after this morning's session:

Vettel - 72
Bottas - 69
Hulkenberg - 65
Sainz - 56
Verstappen - 52
Raikkonen - 46
Kvyat - 35
Perez - 20
Grosjean - 18
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While we wait for someone - anyone - to head back out, here's a reminder of the fastest lap times so far today:

1 Vettel (Ferrari) 1m18.161s
2 Perez (Racing Point) 1m19.944s
3 Bottas (Mercedes) 1m20.127s
4 Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1m20.160s
5 Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m20.174s
6 Sainz (McLaren) 1m20.430s
7 Hulkenberg (Renault)1m20.980s
8 Grosjean (Haas) 1m21.500s
9 Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1m21.732s
Did the teams get the memo, start time 1400hrs? Perhaps they are still at lunch...
Green flag
There's a Honda fired up underneath the media centre at the Circuit de Catalunya, and that means just one thing. Fever.

The afternoon session is underway.
The major storyline for the afternoon will be the debut of Daniel Ricciardo at Renault, in a proper F1 session with the squad for the first time.

His team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg, was seventh of nine cars in the morning session with a lap of 1m20.980s. Today is the first time we'll get to see the highly-rated team-mates go shoulder-to-shoulder.

Lewis Hamilton also hops into action this afternoon with Mercedes. He replaces Valtteri Bottas who was third in this morning's session.
There's noise down in the pits, that must mean there's some action coming up soon.
Here's the full story of that latest blow for Williams:

Williams set to also miss second day of Barcelona F1 test

The Williams Formula 1 team expects to skip the entire second day of pre-season testing and not start running until Wednesday “at the earliest”.

Williams set to also miss second day of Barcelona F1 test
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Claire Williams: "It is looking more likely than not that we will now not be in a position to run on track until Wednesday at the earliest. This is obviously extremely disappointing, but it is unfortunately the situation we are in. We will be getting the FW42 on track as soon as we are able."
Crash
More bad news for Williams - it is set to miss day two of testing as well.
Autosport
Here's the full round-up from a morning that featured Ferrari setting a dominant pace, Raikkonen in the gravel but then flying, and problems for Haas:

F1 testing: Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel dominate first morning

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari dominated the opening morning of 2019 Formula 1 testing, sitting nearly two seconds clear at the top of the times at the lunchbreak

F1 testing: Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel dominate first morning
There's a small driver change for the afternoon, which we'll get into more detail on soon.

Renault switches Nico Hulkenberg for Daniel Ricciardo, and Lewis Hamilton takes over the Mercedes from Valtteri Bottas.
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And here's the times from the morning:

1 Vettel (Ferrari) 1m18.161s
2 Perez (Racing Point) 1m19.944s
3 Bottas (Mercedes) 1m20.127s
4 Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1m20.160s
5 Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m20.174s
6 Sainz (McLaren) 1m20.430s
7 Hulkenberg (Renault)1m20.980s
8 Grosjean (Haas) 1m21.500s
9 Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1m21.732s
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Here's a lap count for the morning/very early afternoon running:

Vettel - 72
Bottas - 69
Hulkenberg - 65
Sainz - 56
Verstappen - 52
Raikkonen - 46
Kvyat - 35
Perez - 20
Grosjean - 18
Our full morning report is on the way. In the meantime, the pits got very loud and then very quiet as the drivers head off for some pasta, or something even healthier.
Checkered flag
That's the end of the morning/a little bit of the afternoon session.
Vettel is teasing us, pumping in a 1m18.343s, which is very close to his benchmark for today.

Hulkenberg pits, there's just over a minute to go before lunch.
It's been a strong end to the first part of today's test in terms of running for Toro Rosso. It spent a long time in the pits, but an extensive stint on track means Kvyat has 32 laps and counting under his belt on his return to the team.
Sainz pits his McLaren, which has racked up 56 laps today. Vettel replaces him on track.
He's back! Romain Grosjean noses the Haas out of the garage to take revenge on the Circuit de Catalunya.

Earlier the Haas ground to a halt with a fuel pressure issue. It has completed 12 laps.

Verstappen pits his Red Bull, after totalling 52 laps so far today.
Make that eight cars on track, as Vettel joins again. Grosjean – who had a fuel pressure issue earlier – and Perez are the only drivers not on track.
The sunshine is showing off a tweak Pirelli has made for this season:

"You might have noticed that our tyres have a more shiny look to them this year," it said on social media. "This is because we are using chrome moulds for the first time in F1 (we’ve tried them before in F2). There’s no effect on performance, but they look nice, don’t they?"
Seven. There's seven cars on track. Panic!

Raikkonen joins those currently circling.
The track resembles an orchestra far better than a soloist now, as a session-high six drivers are on the track.

They are Vettel, Bottas, Verstappen, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Kvyat.
A classic lonely testing day scene

A classic lonely testing day scene

Someone heard us mention middling times, so to combat that, Ferrari has sent Vettel back out on track.

By: Geoff Creighton

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