Jerez Testing – Day 1 (morning): Mercedes in shape, McLaren and Alonso ran

The years follow one another, but will they be alike? In any case, Mercedes didn’t miss its debut at the Jerez tests, the first of the preseason, as after a presentation in the paddock, Nico Rosberg at the wheel completed more than 60 laps – the equivalent of a race distance. He also recorded the best provisional time of 1:23.106, already below the best time of the four days of testing on the same track achieved by Kevin Magnussen last year, in difficult weather conditions.

The German currently leads ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and his zebra-liveried Red Bull RB11, which has completed 22 laps of the Jerez circuit before encountering a technical issue that forced him into the pits. Marcus Ericsson and his blue Sauber are in third place, with about thirty laps under his belt. He caused the only red flag of the morning by making an error, though it had no consequences as he returned to the pits under his own power.

The Swede was not the only one taking his first steps in a new team as he was joined by Sebastian Vettel, all dressed in red, Carlos Sainz with his Toro Rosso, and Fernando Alonso, who managed six laps with the McLaren before midday. The Williams FW37, also presented this morning, took a while to come out, and Valtteri Bottas was able to complete a few laps.

Jerez Test Results – Day 1 (12:10 PM):