Vettel fastest for Ferrari on opening morning of F1 testing

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.

Following the completion of a filming day shakedown on Sunday, Ferrari completed its first extended run with the new SF90 car on Monday morning at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Vettel racked up over 70 laps.

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 P2.

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. He set his best lap on Pirelli's C3 compound tyre, equivalent to last year's Soft compound.

The four-hour session was interrupted by two red flags, the first coming just five minutes into the day after Kimi Raikkonen spun off at Turn 5.

In only his second lap behind the wheel of the Alfa Romeo C38, Raikkonen beached his car, leaving him in need of recovery. The Finn was able to get back out soon after returning to the pits, ending the morning fourth overall.

Romain Grosjean sparked the second red flag of the day during the third hour after his Haas VF-19 ground to a halt at the final chicane. The Frenchman did not return to the track until the final few minutes of the session, ending up eighth overall.

Valtteri Bottas completed Mercedes’ first morning of running with its new W10 car on Monday, tallying 69 laps en route to P3 overall. He will hand over to Lewis Hamilton for the afternoon session.

Max Verstappen ended the opening session fifth for Red Bull with 52 laps on the board as the team completed its longest run yet with the Honda power unit following its winter switch.

Carlos Sainz Jr. wound up sixth for McLaren ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Grosjean, while Daniil Kvyat propped up the running order for Toro Rosso.

Running resumes at 1pm GMT in Barcelona, with the afternoon session concluding at 5pm.