Max tops first Barcelona test: 'Positive day'

Published on 15 May 2018 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen enjoyed a productive day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Dutchman completed 148 laps and set the fastest lap of all (1:17.528).

“It was a productive day. We’ve managed to understand our car a lot better. This one is pretty new, as we’ve only raced it five times. So it was a positive day for the team. We even did more than scheduled, which is always good.”

One area of valuable information gained, were the tyres. “We learned a lot. Our programme was focused on the medium Pirellis and they behaved pretty much the same as during the Grand Prix weekend."

Max ends on another positive note: “The reliability has been good today and actually all year. Hopefully it will last!”

After the lunch break all teams but one run the same drivers as the morning session. McLaren is that one team. The Woking based outfit swapped their development driver Lando Norris for regular racer Stoffel Vandoorne.

Although most teams experienced and uneventful afternoon, Sean Galael was less lucky. The Formula 2 driver, piloting the Scuderia Toro Rosso for the day, spend most of the afternoon in the garage. Chassis problems prompted a power-unit change, cutting his running short to just 50 laps.

Max was not the only driver with a productive day. Apart from Toro Rosso, all the teams break the 100 lap mark. Mercedes led the way, with Lewis Hamilton completing 151 laps.

On Wednesday, the second of the four in-season test days is scheduled to take place. Red Bull Racing will run Jake Dennis. The 22-year-old British driver normally spends a lot of time in the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing simulator in Milton Keynes, making him the ideal candidate to compare the real and virtual version of the RB14

Barcelona In-Season Test - Day 1

   DRIVER       TEAM                TIME                 LAPS
1  Verstappen   Red Bull	    1:17.528	         148
2  Sainz        Renault             1:17.562   +0.034    119
3  Vettel       Ferrari 	    1:17.659   +0.131    136
4  Grosjean     Haas		    1:18.449   +0.921    129
5  Lafiti       Force India         1:18.530   +1.002    107
6  Hamilton     Mercedes	    1:18.543   +1.015    151
7  Vandoorne    McLaren		    1:18.981   +1.453    85
8  Giovinazzi   Sauber	            1:19.693   +2.165    135
9  Rowland      Williams	    1:20.009   +2.481    121
10 Norris       McLaren             1:20:997   +3.469    76
11 Russell      Force India	    1:21.478   +3.950    123
12 Gelael       Toro Rosso	    1:21.935   +4.407    50
13 Turvey       McLaren	            1:23:070   +5.542    58