Barcelona Tests - Day One - Ferrari Impress Again

Ferrari continue to impress as they had another strong session in the first day of testing at Barcelona.

Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado set the fastest time, at the scene of his only Formula One victory in 2012, but it was Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen who made the headlines. The Scuderia were the team to beat at the first set of tests in Jerez, with the team topping three of the four days.

But what was impressive from Ferrari’s point of view, is that their lap time of 1:25:167 is around two seconds faster than their 2014 pace, showing an astronomical improvement. Also the time was quicker than the pole position time Lewis Hamilton set in Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix last season.

Speaking of Hamilton his day was cut short after only 11 laps due to illness. The world champion woke up with a ‘fever’ and meant he sat out the rest of the session, with reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein replacing him. It was an odd day for the young German, he started the day testing for Force India, as per the schedule, but because of Hamilton’s withdrawal, and Nico Rosberg’s reported neck issue, the 20 year old was thrust into the W06, but his Force India times were marginally faster.

It was another day to forget for McLaren, with their reunion with Honda still not going according to plan. A faulty seal on the MGU-K of the MP4-30 meant that the Woking team had to sit out the second half of the action. A fault of this kind means replacing the power unit, and with Honda not being able to deliver the new part until Saturday, it means the problem may well occur again when Fernando Alonso is in the car tomorrow.

There was drama on the track too as Susie Wolff of Williams and Felipe Nasr of Sauber collided. Wolff was on her outlap when the two collided at turn five. The crash caused a 20 minute delay and saw extensive damage to Nasr’s C34, with the rear wing reportedly being ripped off. Thankfully neither driver was hurt and both were able to run again after repairs were made.

With Pascal Wehrlein being drafted into the Mercedes, up stepped Sergio Perez to run the Force India. The Silverstone team were running their 2014 car due to their new one not yet being ready, and the Mexican ran for the second half of the test. He managed the fourth best time in the VJM07 and was just over 1.6 seconds off the top in what was Force India’s first test of 2015 after missing the Jerez tests.