• First Barcelona Test, Day One

Vettel fastest on first morning at Barcelona

Sebastian Vettel was over half a second clear of the field © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
• |
• Kimi Räikkönen
• |
• Sebastian Vettel

• Teams:
• Ferrari
• |
• Lotus F1
• |
• Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time on the opening morning of the second pre-season test in Barcelona.

Having completed only a handful of laps during the first two hours of running, Vettel set a time of 1:23.046 on hard tyres to end the session quickest by over half a second from Kimi Raikkonen.

After the morning's running got off to a slow start, the final hour before lunch saw the lap times tumbling as hazy sunshine helped the track temperature to increase slightly. Vettel's time cam after he, Raikkonen, Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez had all traded fastest lap times.

Most of Vettel's running came on the hard tyres, with Raikkonen also using hards to set his best time of 1:23.571. It was another quiet morning for Lotus, however, as the E21 only completed 19 laps during the first four hours of the day.

Following the launch of the FW35 in the pit lane, Williams was the most productive team as Pastor Maldonado completed 47 laps, matched only by di Resta. Maldonado's best was a 1:23.733 set on the medium tyre and was good enough for fourth quickest behind Fernando Alonso.

Alonso was making his first pre-season appearance for Ferrari and was the main attraction for the smattering of fans in the main grandstand at the Circuit de Catalunya. His time of 1:23.733 was also set on hard tyres as he got through an encouraging 44 laps.

It was another close session as the top seven cars were separated by just one second, with Daniel Ricciardo, Perez and di Resta all setting competitive times. Nico Rosberg, however, had another frustrating morning for Mercedes as he completed just 14 laps in the W04.

The only red flag of the morning came when Esteban Gutierrez stopped out on track, but Sauber confirmed he had run out of fuel having carried out a fuel systems test.

Times:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB9, 1:23.046, 25 laps
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus E21, 1:23.571, 19 laps
3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F138, 1:23.626, 44 laps
4. Pastor Maldonado, Williams FW35, 1:23.733, 47 laps
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso STR8, 1:23.884, 44 laps
6. Sergio Perez, McLaren MP4-28, 1:24.124, 22 laps
7. Paul di Resta, Force India VJM06, 1:24.144, 47 laps
8. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W04, 1:24.520, 14 laps
9. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber C32, 1:25.136, 38 laps
10. Charles Pic, Caterham CT03, 1:27.534, 40 laps
11. Max Chilton, Marussia MR02, 1:28.068, 36 laps

Chris Medland is assistant editor of ESPNF1

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