Vettel fastest for Ferrari on opening morning of F1 testing
Sebastian Vettel immediately on pace |
Sebastian Vettel set the pace for Ferrari in the opening session of Formula 1 pre-season testing on Monday, finishing almost two seconds clear of the field.
The four-time F1 world champion ended the session with a fastest lap time of 1m18.161s, finishing 1.7 seconds clear of Racing Point’s Sergio Perez in 2nd.
Vettel’s lap was 1.2 seconds faster than the best time in the opening test of 2018, and less than a second shy of the best lap overall from last year’s running (1m17.182s). He set his best lap on Pirelli's C3 compound tire, equivalent to last year's Soft compound.
Day 1 Times – at Lunch Break
POS | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME | LAPS |
1 | Vettel | Ferrari | 1m18.161s | 72 |
2 | Perez | Racing Point | 1m19.944s | 20 |
3 | Bottas | Mercedes | 1m20.127s | 69 |
4 | Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 1m20.160s | 46 |
5 | Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m20.174s | 52 |
6 | Sainz | McLaren | 1m20.430s | 56 |
7 | Hulkenberg | Renault | 1m20.980s | 65 |
8 | Grosjean | Haas | 1m21.500s | 18 |
9 | Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1m21.732s | 35 |