Pirelli Tests – Day 1: Vandoorne and McLaren-Honda already broken down!

It is under a gray sky that the first day of Pirelli tests takes place, organized to break in their 2017 tires in the rain. However, the rain will not appear throughout the day, and it is therefore artificially that the track will be soaked. The Paul Ricard circuit is in a short configuration of 3.5 km.

Three teams were invited to these trials: Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren. On this Monday, Kimi Räikkönen, Daniel Ricciardo, and Stoffel Vandoorne will take to the track. With the exception of the Belgian, who will also drive on Tuesday, the others will be replaced by their respective teammates, namely Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat, as of tomorrow. The German was already seen smiling on the circuit late in the afternoon, gathering some valuable information from his team before diving in tomorrow.

On the track, 7 to 10 lap runs follow one after another throughout the day, interrupted every fifteen minutes to water a track that dries relatively quickly.

Under these conditions, the track’s grip remains precarious, and it is not uncommon to see the three drivers struggling to maintain the stability of their single-seaters when reaccelerating, especially on the pit straight after the Pont turn. But with great diligence, Ricciardo (80 laps), Vandoorne (87 laps), and Räikkönen (99 laps) will wear down the tarmac until the end of the afternoon.

However, the Belgian’s McLaren-Honda will not allow him to finish his program for the day as it will come to a stop on the circuit, at the start of his 88th lap, due to a mechanical problem that has not yet been specified by the team.

The best time of the day goes to Daniel Ricciardo with a 1:08.713, ahead of Vandoorne with a 1:09.131 and Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari with a 1:09.637. This last time does not seem to have disturbed the Finn, who stated that he had a relatively calm and restful winter.

Tomorrow, Vandoorne will have the opportunity to get back behind the wheel of his McLaren while Daniil Kvyat and Sebastian Vettel will respectively slip into the Red Bull and Ferrari. Of course, the three single-seaters present at Paul Ricard over these two days are in a 2015 configuration and none of the three teams have been allowed to test any innovations that could give them an advantage over the competition.

From our special correspondent at Le Castellet