Hamilton tops Vettel, but on softer tires (Updates)

UPDATE Quotes updated below.

Lewis Hamilton is all smiles because he knows the Aldo Costa car is going to be unbeatable

02/27/17

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top on the opening day of Formula 1 testing at Barcelona, edging out Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel by a tenth during Monday's afternoon session.

However, Hamilton set a best time of 1m21.765s using soft tires but Vettel's Ferrari put in a lap just 0.113 seconds slower on the harder medium tires, which was good enough for the German to end the day second-fastest.

Felipe Massa was third fastest, setting a 1m22.076s in the Williams on soft tires, getting within 0.311s of Hamilton's best effort on the same compound.

A late run on softs in the final half hour saw Kevin Magnussen move up to fourth, 1.129s off the pace, while a last-ditch effort on softs by Daniel Ricciardo put him fifth, a further 0.032s adrift.

QUOTES

Valtteri Bottas:
It was a very good first morning for us. We were doing quite a lot of mechanical tests, checking systems, while trying to do mileage. We did 79 laps, more than a race distance, which is very good for the first morning of running. If we are going to face any issues with the car I hope we can face them now. That's why we did more than a race this morning. That was our target.

We worked on long-runs, trying to gain all the information we could from these conditions. We didn't really care at all about lap times today. As a team we still have many more important days ahead of us. The main thing to do is to get the mileage in and the car had no issues. The guys have done an amazing job over the winter. I only started just over a month ago, but the way the car has been running is impressive. It's a good feeling.

I did a few laps at Silverstone, but now this is proper testing. It was very special to do the first few laps. This is a new era for Formula 1. The car feels very different to last year. You can definitely feel the impact of the new regulations – the increased loads, the bigger, heavier cars, and more grip. I think they look great. They're great fun to drive and they're fast in the corners too. Racing is still unknown, but so far so good. Physically the cars feel more demanding, but luckily I am well prepared for the season ahead.

Lewis Hamilton:

Vettel at the wheel of the new Ferrari – 2nd fast on Day1

It's been a good day, a really positive day for the team. The car looks fantastic and it feels great. We did lots of laps and collected loads of information today, so we can try to improve the car as we move forward. We've not done any work to get the balance perfect yet, as today was all about ticking off the list of checkpoints and racking up mileage.

I definitely put my body to the test today. These test days are like training. It was good to feel the wider, beefier car. It's faster, more physical… it's a beast! You've got to drive it a bit differently. It's so much better than last year's cars. The G-Forces are definitely higher. We're pulling two more G than we'd usually pull around here. There's so much more downforce, which is something you always want as a driver. You always want to go faster through the corners.

The tires are so hard that they don't drop off. Most likely we'll be doing more one-stoppers. Normally you get a lot of degradation with these tires – but these ones don't degrade. They're very consistent, and there's not a big difference between the feeling on the first lap and the last lap.

Over the next few days we'll start to look to improve the car. I still think we're the team to beat – but we have a lot of work ahead of us to do, the same as every single team on the grid. Right now we're just focusing on our own job to do the very best that we can.

Kevin Magnussen
"We had a few issues, but the good thing is that they were small issues. Even though they stopped us from some running, it wasn’t something that is at all worrying for the coming days. It’s kind of the typical baby problems you have with the cars when they’re completely new. Except for that, the first feeling of the car is nice. It’s good to finally get that feeling of the car after looking at it, and all the anticipation for the faster cars. It’s a good feeling. Today’s been a day I’ve enjoyed a lot."

Guenter Steiner
"The plan was to do more, but that’s how the first day goes sometimes. We had a few issues, but that’s normal. They are to be expected when you have a new car and we sorted them out. We are here to learn and that is what we did. Our learning process is a lot better than last year because our people have worked together for a year now and we know more about the car. We are a lot better prepared."

Carlos Sainz (Car 55):
“I end the day with a positive feeling after my first outing at the wheel of the STR12. Everything felt good and I’d say we’ve made a big step forward compared to last year in terms of downforce and grip – I felt it straight away during the first laps of the morning and it put a smile on my face. Of course it wasn’t the smoothest of days and we would’ve liked to complete more laps, but you know that this is always going to happen on the first day testing a brand new car. All in all, a decent first day and it’s great that the season has finally kicked-off!"

James Key (Toro Rosso Technical Director):
“It’s good to finally get started after such a long winter, completing 51 laps. Although we had to stop a little bit earlier with a bit of a niggle on the front of the car, we will get this sorted for tomorrow. The main priorities today were to get miles on the car and to do the basics right, so we did some aero work in the morning and after that we went through a long list of basic checks on our new car, considering there are so many things to learn. It was really all about laps and fundamentals today, and it will be the same tomorrow with Daniil. The good news is that, a part from the usual first-day glitches, nothing has caught us out and everything behaves in the way we think it should. The driver feedback has been close to expectation and generally quite positive so I think that, for a first day of testing and although we would’ve liked to do more laps, we can’t complain at all. We didn’t do any performance running – that will come later on."

Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez
It was a day of two halves. The morning was very productive: we managed to do a lot of what we had planned and we tried some different set-up options and tire compounds. Things were looking quite positive throughout the morning and we had the chance to learn a lot from our new car. Unfortunately we didn’t run in the afternoon as a precaution and that cost us some track time. Hopefully tomorrow we can make up the lost ground with Esteban in the car: with a solid day, we can complete the rest of our program and move forward with the plan.

Marcus Ericsson

Tom McCullough, Force India Chief Race Engineer
The morning went largely to plan as the VJM10 completed its first few laps. We built up the mileage on the car, doing short runs at first and then increasing the lap count. This allowed us to complete the basic systems checks on the car. We also started some aero mapping and got a useful first understanding of the 2017 tires. Our work was cut short with an exhaust issue and we ended the day early as a precautionary measure. We are looking forward to tomorrow, when Esteban is in the car for his first experience of the VJM10.

Marcus Ericsson:
It is great to finally be back in the car again after a long winter. The new car was fun to drive, and it is nice to feel that there is more potential. We had some minor issues, but on the other hand it was the first time we were running the car properly. Overall, it has been a productive day. I completed 70 laps overall, which is a good effort for test day one. Now we need to go from here to have a successful first week of testing. The two main areas, which I feel are the biggest differences compared to last year are that the car is faster in high-speed corners and the braking performance is better.

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