Barcelona Testing – Day 1 (Morning): Hamilton Leads, Räikkönen Stops

Unlike this weekend, the day begins with overcast skies and rain at the Catalunya circuit. For this first day of testing, Sébastien Buemi (Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), Charles Pic (Lotus), Jenson Button (McLaren), Nico Hülkenberg (Force India), Giedo van der Garde (Sauber), Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), Felipe Massa (Williams), Max Chilton (Marussia), and Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham) have taken to the track. The tire testing for Pirelli ahead of 2015 is being conducted today by Sauber and Toro Rosso.

The morning was mainly marked by the significant number of red flags that were raised: four. The first, after barely 10 minutes, for the immobilization of Vergne’s Toro Rosso, the second five minutes after the session resumed, caused by Räikkönen’s Ferrari, the third once again for Vergne around 10:00 AM, and finally, the last for Chilton’s Marussia.

The most concerning situation would be Ferrari’s, with a hybrid block issue certainly being the cause of this on-track stop. It should be noted that towards the end of the morning, the Mercedes W05 Hybrid driven by Hamilton stopped in the pit lane, requiring mechanics to come and fetch it.

In terms of timing, it was Lewis Hamilton who set the fastest provisional time, at 1:44.291, ahead of Felipe Massa’s Williams by eight-tenths, and Sébastien Buemi’s Red Bull by nearly a second. Following them were Button, Chilton, Kobayashi, and Van der Garde. Charles Pic with the Lotus E22 completed only a few installation laps. The times should improve throughout the afternoon.