Sebastian Vettel tops the timesheets on Day 1 of the pre-season test at Barcelona

At the first pre-season F1 test of the 2016 season, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel was quickest ahead of World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.

Sebastian Vettel was the only driver on the grid to lap the Spanish circuit in the 1.24.939 as he covered 69 laps for the Maranello squad with its new SF16-H car. But it was Lewis Hamilton who the busiest driver on the track today by completing over 150 trouble-free laps on his way to second place, but was nearly half a second off Vettel’s pace even if both drivers set their times on Pirelli’s medium tyres.

Daniel Ricciardo finished in third place in the Red Bull RB12, which enjoyed a solid first outing despite a slow start to the day. Ricciardo covered over 80 laps and finished more than a second behind Vettel.

Valtteri Bottas finished in the day fourth place ahead of Force India development driver Alfonso Celis who finished in fifth place with the Mexican jumping up the timesheets thanks to a late run on soft tyres.

After a slow start to the day, Jenson Button managed a solid day of work in the new McLaren, covering 83 laps on his way to finish the day in sixth place, even though Button did set this time on soft tyres. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz was in seventh place but his day came to an early finish as the Toro Rosso team found something strange in the gearbox oil system and decided to stop as a precaution.

Marcus Ericsson was the only man at the wheel of a 2015 car, putting the Sauber in eighth place ahead of the Manor of F1 rookie Pascal Wehrlein in ninth place and managed to acquire 54 laps in his first outing with the Manor team.

Romain Grosjean finished the session in tenth place with the newest F1 team on the grid Haas. The team had a shortened first day of work on track after Grosjean’s car suffered a front wing failure that kept him in the garage for several hours before he managed to return to the circuit with an hour left on the clock.

However, Grosjean did cause the only red flag of the day while the debris was picked up, still managed to outpace the Renault of F1 rookie Jolyon Palmer, who also spent a big part of the day in the garage and finished the session in eleventh place.

Here's the official classification from Day One of the pre-season test as follows:-

Day One Timesheet:-

1. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:24.939 69 Laps
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.409 +0.470 155 Laps
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:26.044 +1.105 87 Laps
4. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:26.091 +1.152 80 Laps
5. Alfonso Celis Force India 1:26.298 +1.359 84 Laps
6. Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.735 +1.796 58 Laps
7. Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:27.180 +2.241 55 Laps
8. Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:27.555 +2.616 88 Laps
9. Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:28.292 +3.353 54 Laps
10. Romain Grosjean Haas 1:28.399 +3.460 31 Laps
11. Jolyon Palmer Renault Sport 1:29.356 +4.417 37 Laps
Keep your eyes peeled at Driving for Pleasure for our reports of the next three days of the first F1 pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa