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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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Two hours down, two hours to go until the lunch break. Strong starts for both Ferrari and Red Bull who are at the head of both the lap times and lap counts.
Stopwatch
After a cool off lap Verstappen improves again, moving up to second overall this time, with a 1m22.246s.
Stopwatch
Verstappen improves on his personal best lap time to move up to third overall with a 1m22.434s.
After a short stint in the pits to assess the early running, both Vettel and Alonso have resumed their respective run programmes, joining Leclerc and Norris on the track.

Alfa Romeo and Haas are the slow starters on the opening day, with Mazepin on six laps and Kubica on four laps and no timed effort. Far from panic stations yet, but both are already starting to play catch-up to the rest.

Sun

A smattering of personal lap time improvements are ticking over but the order remains unchanged, as the sun bursts through the clouds behind the main grandstand for the first time this morning. How lovely.

Jake Boxall-Legge
Jake Boxall-Legge

Snapshot analysis of the Red Bull RB18

"The RB18's sidepods feature an incredibly distinct undercut around the front inlet, which features a protruding bottom leading edge. Airflow will pass around that undercut and around the sidepods to be drawn into the rear 'Coke bottle' region, while the air passing over the top follows a downwards ramp to also feed towards the back of the car. This has been done by positioning many of the cooling components closer to the centre of the car, necessitating a larger inlet above the driver's head."

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Leclerc not only leads the times but he is also on top on the total lap count now with 23, one clear of Verstappen, so it is an encouraging start for Ferrari. Very, very early days, mind.
Stopwatch
Norris moves up to second on the times for McLaren, setting a 1m22.491s on the C2 tyres.
Stopwatch
Leclerc improves again to shave a couple of tenths off his best with a 1m21.718s.

As mileage is one of the key performance indicators at this test, it is Mercedes leading the way as Russell starts his 20th lap of the day. He improved on his personal best but appeared to back off the power massively over the line.

Stopwatch
Leclerc is now top of the times with a 1m21.955s for Ferrari on the C2 tyres.
Breaking news

Red Bull RB18 breaks cover at F1 Barcelona test

Here's the full story on the Red Bull RB18's first official outing: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/red-bull-rb18-breaks-cover-at-f1-barcelona-test/8423559/
Luke Smith
Luke Smith
"Naturally, it's impossible to take anything from the early times we've got on the board. The pole lap from last year in Barcelona was a 1m16.741s set by Lewis Hamilton. But the huge thing today is mileage. These cars are so massively different from their predecessors - the only part carried over is the steering wheel - so getting in a good amount of laps today and building an early understanding will be the key thing. Focus on the lap count today, not the lap times."
Speaking of Haas, Mazepin is on track for his first lap of the day. Confusingly, the timing screen at the track says it is Schumacher but the team reassures us it is the Russian in the cockpit as planned.

Earlier this morning Haas put on a pitlane reveal of the VF-22, after its soft launch that was followed by semi-revealing the car during a filming day on Monday.

Mick Schumacher, Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1, Nikita Mazepin, Haas F1 Team VF-22

Mick Schumacher, Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1, Nikita Mazepin, Haas F1 Team VF-22

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Stopwatch
And just like that, Verstappen goes top again with a 1m23.038s and is up to 10 laps for this morning.
Stopwatch
Verstappen briefly displaces Tsunoda at the top before the Japanese driver resumes his place in P1 with a 1m23.471s. We'll say this a few times, but for now lap times aren't representative or meaningful - all about clocking up mileage.
Stopwatch
Tsunoda shoots to the top of the early times for AlphaTauri with a 1m23.914s set on the C3 tyres.
Kubica heads out in the Alfa Romeo for the first time today and with Alonso having completed an installation lap for Alpine it is just the Haas we are missing.
Stopwatch
Russell lowers the benchmark with a 1m25.548s in the Mercedes, having had the track to himself until Norris provides him some company in the McLaren.
The majority of eyes in the paddock are focused on the Red Bull car given its launch-but-not-a-proper-car-launch earlier this month. Some striking sidepod and floor details are sparking the interest.
Stopwatch
Russell is setting the early pace, granted with unrepresentative lap times at this stage, as he sets a 1m27.730s.
Tsunoda also joins in the fun for AlphaTauri meaning seven out of 10 F1 teams have already been out. Just missing Haas, Alpine and Alfa Romeo, presumably polishing off some breakfast.
Vettel in the Aston Martin, Leclerc in the Ferrari, Verstappen in the Red Bull and Latifi in the Williams are also out on track. Norris completes an installation lap and pits while the rest crack on with a first timed effort.
McLaren takes the first on track honours, with Norris leading out Russell in the Mercedes. In the grand scheme of things it means very little, but nobody can take it away from him.
Lights green

F1 testing has begun

Here we go, 2022 F1 is underway!
So, who is your money on to win the first out of pitlane race? Mercedes has often been a frontrunner in that game but given Haas is at the bottom of pitlane they should have the advantage.
Kubica kicks off for Alfa Romeo, the only reserve driver on the schedule for today: 

 

F1 driver line-up for Day 1 of Barcelona test:

Mercedes: Russell(AM)/Hamilton(PM)
Red Bull: Verstappen
Ferrari: Leclerc(AM)/Sainz(PM)
McLaren: Norris
Alpine: Alonso
AlphaTauri: Tsunoda
Aston Martin: Vettel(AM)/Stroll(PM)
Williams: Latifi(AM)/Albon(PM)
Alfa Romeo: Kubica(AM)/Bottas(PM)
Haas: Mazepin(AM)/Schumacher(PM)

George Russell has popped out of the Mercedes garage to inspect the main straight. He’s keen to get today underway - and rightly so! Speaking of the drivers, here's who is in action and when today.

Usually the F1 pitlane is a buzz of photographers, journalists and TV reporters covering car presentations ahead of the opening day of track action, but as this is a shakedown test it is all quiet apart from a few mechanics.

In other words, here's the state of play this morning:

 

Your humble technical editor would like to announce, at this juncture, that his decision to bring an Aeropress to testing has so far been a gamechanger. Sure, he's made a mess and got coffee grounds everywhere, but we also have sufficient caffeination...

The pitlane opens on F1 2022 in 30 minutes, so just enough time to get yourself some breakfast and a comfortable spot before settling in for the live updates and timing.

By: Haydn Cobb

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