Barcelona Testing Day 1: Norris takes the lead

The 2022 season is finally underway! The weather was beautiful all day at the Barcelona circuit.

Alfa Romeo stood out aesthetically by using a camouflage livery.

The first one to set a time was Yuki Tsunoda, before the reigning world champion came and stole the fastest time from him (1’23″038).

The two men from the Red Bull family were going to be matched by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari number 16 (1’21″718).

For Alfa Romeo and Haas, the day started off quite poorly: less than 10 laps during the first hour and a half. At the Italo-Swiss team, it was Robert Kubica at the wheel and Nikita Mazepin for the American clan.

At Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton was the first to test the W13, but far from revealing the full potential of the German machine.

During the morning session, Max Verstappen went off track but without any consequences.

Afternoon provided

Charles Leclerc has made way for Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari team.

The morning was rather calm but the afternoon was much more diligent for all the drivers and teams.

Charles Leclerc had maintained his first place until the last hour: Lando Norris, equipped with C4 tires, allowed himself to lower the best time (1’19″951).

The problems with Haas, related to a leak, seemed to have been resolved. Mick Schumacher has returned to the track.

The morning was rather uneventful for Alpine, just like the rest of the day. Fernando Alonso just made it into the top 10.

Lando Norris improved by four tenths (1’19″5). He will never be caught up and will keep the lead of this first day of testing.

Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, and Guanyu Zhou were the only ones who did not take the track.

Results of the first day of winter testing in Barcelona – Wednesday, February 23, 2022