Barcelona Pre-Season Testing: Lando Norris and Ferrari duo lead the pack on Day 1; Hamilton and Verstappen fall behind

Barcelona Pre-Season Testing: Lando Norris and Ferrari duo lead the pack on Day 1; Hamilton and Verstappen fall behind

McLaren

If F1’s 2022 season hadn’t already begun with the car launches in February or the changes introduced by the FIA, it certainly has begun now with the pre-season testing in Barcelona at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The first day saw a total run of 1104 laps by 16 drivers.

The wait to see the cars of the new era have ended, and we got a glimpse of these magnificent beasts running wild on track today. The testing is being held in two sessions of four hours each for three days in Barcelona, which will be followed by another round of testing in Bahrain before the Bahrain GP.

The testing in Barcelona is being held behind closed doors. The fans will only get the summaries and times at the end of the day, with a few videos of the cars. The first day saw Charles Leclerc topping the first session, but the day’s fastest lap went to the blazing McLaren driver, Lando Norris, who finished his lap in 1:19.568. 

FS Video

How did the drivers and teams fare on the first day?

Lando Norris
Lando Norris

Ferrari seems to be standing up to the expectations that they had set when they launched their challenger F1-75. The team was an absolute beast and saw their drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finish second and third, respectively. 

Lando Norris was the only McLaren driver on the track today. He put on the day’s best and would be heading tomorrow with more confidence than today. 

But one of the most surprising things of the day were the performances of the rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Both the drivers didn’t get what they would have certainly desired. Verstappen finished in ninth, while Hamilton on fifth.

These regulations, as said by many experts and team principals themselves, have been brought in to promote closer racing. It is believed that there will be a lot less dirty air behind the cars due to the aerodynamics of the cars. More of the analysis has been shared by the official F1 website.

Here are the rest of the results:

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