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Formula 1 Barcelona February Testing

F1 Barcelona pre-season test - Day 1

Minute by minute updates on the opening day of the 2022 Barcelona F1 pre-season test

Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44, with aero paint applied

All 10 teams are in action for the first official track running in the new era of F1, as the teams begin testing the new cars devised under the new technical regulations.

Track action gets underway at 8am GMT, while Haas is presenting its VF-22 F1 car to the media in the pitlane before the track opens, with the opening day finishing at 5pm GMT. The day will be split by a one-hour lunch break (12pm-1pm GMT) which can be reduced if requested due to lost track time from either red flags or poor weather conditions.

The opening day will provide the first real look at all of the 2022 F1 cars from every team, to see which teams have got it right and which have work to do. While never fully taken as the true pecking order, due to teams hiding outright performance levels by sandbagging their speeds, the tests still reveal an overview while giving teams which are struggling nowhere to hide.

The Barcelona shakedown test, conducted without live TV coverage or live timing, runs between 23-25 February. A second official test will follow in Bahrain on 10-12 March ahead of the 2022 F1 season opener at the same venue, the Bahrain Grand Prix, on 18-20 March.

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Orange you glad it's a McLaren?:

 

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Aston Martin blurs the lines:

 

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Alpine shows off its new pink hue:

 

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Williams auditions for a new series of Art Attack with its loose interpretation of a self-portrait:

 

While we wait for the second part of day one to kick off, let's have a look at some of our favourite photos - courtesy of Motorsport Images...
Thank you Haydn for running the show this morning, I'm ready and raring to go for the afternoon. Plenty to learn about these 2022 cars this morning - and there's still more to come in the next four hours.

With the lunch break in full flow, I'll hand over to my esteemed colleague Jake Boxall-Legge who will oversee proceedings for this afternoon.

There was one moment of trouble for Verstappen this morning which was caught by the snappers, as he ran wide and over the gravel trap midway through the session. There was no noticeable damage to the RB18 and given he notched up the joint-highest number of laps with Leclerc (80) it certainly didn't dent his programme.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, in the gravel

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, in the gravel

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Breaking news

2022 F1 Barcelona test: Leclerc tops first morning session as new cars debut

Here's the full round-up on the morning action: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/2022-f1-barcelona-test-leclerc-tops-first-morning-session-as-new-cars-debut/8428268/

Practice starts on the grid are the order for the end of the morning action, with Leclerc, Mazepin and Tsunoda taking up the opportunity before pitting to go and find their lunches.

Checkered flag

Leclerc puts Ferrari top on the opening morning

Leclerc and Ferrari take the top spot honours as the morning session comes to close on the opening day.
Stopwatch
Mazepin's 1m25.139s puts him back up to P9 and pushes Kubica to the bottom of the pile once again. To rubber stamp it, the Russian puts in a 1m24.505s to doubly make sure.
Mazepin in the Haas is also back on track for the final few minutes before the break. So it is a busy end to the morning on track.
Stopwatch
Norris moves up to second for McLaren with a 1m20.474s on the C3 tyres, three-tenths off leader Leclerc.
Stopwatch
Kubica isn't hanging about, as he moves up to ninth on the times ahead of Mazepin, with a 1m25.909s.
Stopwatch
And just like that Kubica sets his first representative lap time, a 1m29.516s, to ensure we have all 2022 cars on the timesheet before the interval.
That was good timing, as Kubica has come out on the track for Alfa Romeo to start his fifth lap of the morning. With 20 minutes to go he'll hope to cram in as many laps as possible given he's handing over to Bottas this afternoon.
While we've not seen much of the Haas (13 laps) and Alfa Romeo (4 laps),  there hasn't been a single stoppage or serious on-track issue of note this morning, so that'll also be helping with the healthy lap tallies by the top teams.
Some really impressive lap tallies being chalked up by Ferrari (66), Mercedes (68) and Red Bull (71) this morning. While the new cars weren't expected to cause a multitude of problems on reliability, that kind of mileage fresh out of the box really stands out.
Luke Smith
Luke Smith

Trackside update

"The front of Latifi’s Williams has been absolutely coated in flow-vis paint. He’s just hopped out of the way of Tsunoda at the chicane to avoid any hold ups as he begins a new run."

Stopwatch
Vettel, now on the C3s, moves up to fourth with a 1m21.551s.
Breaking news

The secrets revealed in Red Bull's belated RB18 unveiling

Hot off the press for Plus subscribers, Jake Boxall-Legge takes a closer look at the Red Bull RB18 as the team finally showed off the car to the world on the first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona. Here's what can be seen from the radical new challenger: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-secrets-revealed-in-red-bulls-belated-rb18-unveiling/8425707/
Alonso in the eye-catching pink and blue (or is it blue and pink?) Alpine had the track all to himself for 10 minutes until Tsunoda decided to join in on the fun. Still no sign of the Alfa Romeo with 45 minutes to go before the lunch break.
Luke Smith
Luke Smith

Trackside update

"Russell was briefly being tailed by Leclerc for a couple of laps, presumably picking up similar info on following behind other cars, until Russell dropped back on a cool down lap, finding some space, before continuing on his most recent run."

George Russell, Mercedes W13

George Russell, Mercedes W13

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Stopwatch
Norris chips away at his personal best lap time with a 1m21.173s and stays third overall. Vettel also improves, moving up to seventh, with a 1m23.328s.
Luke Smith
Luke Smith

Trackside update

"I've just seen George Russell following old team-mate Nicholas Latifi through the final corner - a number of drivers have been looking to follow closely as it is important to get a read on how much has changed when following others cars under the new rules.”
Russell dips into the 1m20s to cut the gap to Leclerc at the top to six-tenths. The Mercedes driver has resumed his push, cool down, push lap routine.
Stopwatch
Leclerc stretches the legs of the Ferrari to go top with a 1m20.165s on the C3s - almost a full second quicker than previous P1-holder Russell.
Alex Kalinauckas
Alex Kalinauckas

Trackside update

"Cars are still braking so late for Turn 1, so it is hard to see overtaking being any easier there, unless they really can follow closely around the rest of the lap to be close coming onto the main straight. But it doesn't appear, so far, there will be a bigger braking zone some were hoping for."
Norris finally has some on track company as Verstappen, Tsunoda and Latifi all rejoin the action. Still no sign of the Alfa Romeo after its earlier four exploratory laps.
Luke Smith
Luke Smith
"And Alfa Romeo have got back to us - they say there's been a few small niggles with the car, but nothing unexpected and they are still following the run plan."
Luke Smith
Luke Smith
"Been for a wander in the paddock and everything seems quite relaxed - a world away from the start of other major regulation cycles! The sun is out and things are warming up too. A look at the timesheets shows the usual suspects near the top - Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull - but it's worth nothing Max Verstappen is already up to 51 laps today. At the other end of things, just four laps on the board for Alfa Romeo with Robert Kubica."
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As it stands, Norris is the only driver on track - and has just completed his 27th lap of the day. Fancy a look at the MCL36 he's driving? 

 

Stopwatch
After a dozen or so laps which moved Russell to the top of the times, ending with a best of 1m21.039s, he pits back to the Mercedes garage.
Alex Kalinauckas
Alex Kalinauckas

Trackside view

"Watching from trackside and the first bit of 'racing' with the 2022 F1 cars takes place between Latifi, Mazepin and Verstappen through the first few corners of the lap. They look menacing in a pack as the Red Bull gets by the Haas into Turn 1 before heading after the Williams in front."
Stopwatch
Russell, on the C3s tyres, goes fastest for Mercedes with a 1m21.403s. We can add Mercedes to the list of strong starters next to Ferrari and Red Bull.

By: Haydn Cobb

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