2018 BARCELONA I TEST SESSSION: RED BULL FASTEST

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo ended the first day of 2018 Formula 1 pre-season testing at Barcelona with the fastest time. Australian ended the day fastest by 0.178 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who both used medium tyres, with Kimi Raikkonen third for Ferrari on softs.

Ricciardo put Red Bull on top of the lap count as well as the timesheets, becoming the only driver to breach triple figures with 105 laps complete. Renault's RS18 got closest to breaching the 100-lap mark, with Hulkenberg and Sainz managing 99 between them.

The STR13 ended the first day of 2018 pre-season testing towards the head of the mileage rankings as Hartley logged 93 laps. That compares to 208 laps for the whole first four-day test last year, which is a good step for Honda - and the team seems happy with where it is compared with Renault.

That was in stark contrast to Honda's performance with previous partner McLaren on the first test day last year, when the manufacturer discovered a major problem with its engine after just a single installation lap.

After three years with Honda, McLaren has the new engine partner it wanted, but there's a lot of pressure on the team to deliver now. It's got a proven top-class opponent with the same engine in Red Bull, plus an improving works team to take on. Last year, Honda could be blamed for everything, this year McLaren is going to be exposed. So, the last thing it needed to happen was for Alonso's right-rear wheel to come off during the morning's running.

The Haas looked like a bit of a handful in Romain Grosjean's hands, and he still wants to brake five metres later than everybody else. But he repeatedly didn't make the corner at Turn 1 as the rear stepped out and he had a few moments and even a half-spin. The car doesn't have the grip to do what he wants, and Haas could be up against it this year.

It's difficult to draw too many conclusions about Williams, especially as Sergey Sirotkin didn't get to do any proper laps in the afternoon. Williams does appear to have dropped off a bit, but it's hard to say how much of that is down to the fact last year the team pacesetter was often Felipe Massa and it doesn't have that benchmark this year.

Overall, it was a good day for the Renault-powered teams. But it also suggests that some of the trends from last year in terms of the pace, and characteristics, of the Ferrari and Mercedes might have carried over.

Cool temperatures and a late rain shower made for a relatively uneventful afternoon of running, with the top four remaining unchanged from the morning.

FIRST TEST DAY, RESULTS

P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP/LAPS
1	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:20.179	/ (Мe, 105)
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	1:20.349	+ 0.170 (Ме,58)
3	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:20.506	+ 0.327 (S,80)
4	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:20.547	+ 0.368 (Мe,73)
5	Carlos Sainz JR.	Renault	1:22.168	+ 1.989 (S,26)
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:22.327	+ 2.148 (Ме,25)
7	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:22.354	+ 2.175 (SS,51)
8	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:22.371	+ 2.192 (S,93)
9	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:22.452	+ 2.273 (S,46)
10	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:22.578	+ 2.399(S,55)
11	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:23.408	+ 3.229 (S,63)
12	Nikita Mazepin	Force India	1:25.628	+ 5.449 (Ме,22)
13	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:44.148	+ 23.969 (S,28)

HS - HyperSoft US - UltraSoft SS - SuperSoft
S - Soft Ме - Medium
H - Hard SH - SuperHard

SUMMARY RESULTS FROM LAST YEAR TEST SESSION

P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP/TIRES
1	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	1:19.705	/ (US)
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:19.952	+ 0.247 (S)
3	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:20.872	+ 1.167 (S)
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:20.983	+ 1.278 (SS)
5	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:21.153	+ 1.448 (S)
6	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:21.369	+ 1.664 (S)
7	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:21.769	+ 2.064 (S)
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:21.791	+ 2.086 (S)
9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:21.824	+ 2.119 (SS)
10	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:22.076	+ 2.371 (Me)
11	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:22.118	+ 2.415 (SS)
12	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:22.204	+ 2.499 (SS)
13	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:22.351	+ 2.646 (S)
14	Antonio Giovinacci	Sauber	1:22.401	+ 2.696 (US)
15	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:22.509	+ 2.804 (SS)
16	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:22.534	+ 2.829 (SS)
17	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:22.576	+ 2.871 (US)
18	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:22.598	+ 2.893 (US)
19	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:22.956	+ 3.251 (S)
20	Carlos Sainz JR.	Toro Rosso	1:23.540	+ 3.835 (Ме)
21	Alfonso Celis	Force India	1:23.568	+ 3.863 (SS)

US - UltraSoft SS - SuperSoft S - Soft Me - Medium