Charles Leclerc maintained top spot as the first morning of 2022 pre-season testing drew to a close at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Having led the way at the two-hour mark on Hard tyres , Leclerc made the switch to Mediums (C3) and improved by more than half a second to end the session with a time of 1:20.165. Lando Norris made late gains (also on C3 Mediums) to put his McLaren second on the timesheets, a couple of tenths back. George Russell was the final driver to get into the 1m20s bracket, again on C3 Mediums, as he completed his first full stint at the wheel of the W13 before handing over to teammate Lewis Hamilton this afternoon. In terms of laps completed, Ferrari (80) and Mercedes (77) stormed past race distances to add to their encouraging early pace, with Red Bull (80) and Williams (66) also particularly productive.
Red Bull catch the eye with their new RB18
While Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes filled the top three positions, Red Bull raised eyebrows with their 'real' RB18 . Reigning World Champion Verstappen enjoyed a trouble-free start to the test as he racked up the laps and slotted into sixth place – having completed his best time on the Hard (C2) tyre. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) finished just ahead of Verstappen in fourth and fifth respectively. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Nikita Mazepin (Haas) followed, with Robert Kubica bringing up the rear for Alfa Romeo after suspected floor problems scuppered the team's start to the test. You can stay up to date with all the action from Barcelona in the dedicated RacingNews365.com live blog .
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