Picture Credit: Twitter
The new era of Formula One finally kicked off on Wednesday as the 3-day pre-season testing ahead of F1 2022 season began in Barcelona. The morning session of Day 1 was full of action and entertainment as quite a few drivers entered the circuit and demonstrated their epic driving skills. After a hard-fought session, it was Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who topped the timing charts registering the fastest lap with an impressive timing of 1 minute 20.165 seconds.
The youngster did many fast laps on the day and eventually finished ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes' George Russell, who had quite a brilliant start to his time on the circuit in a Silver Arrows' car. Much to the delight of everyone, Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel started the new season on a positive note as he finished P4, ahead of AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda.
F1 2021 champion Max Verstappen returned to the track in his new #1 car and enjoyed a productive session on track. He registered a total of 80 laps, the most by anyone, on the day. However, something that caught everyone's attention was the the look and design of Red Bull RB18, which looked slightly different from what was presented in front of the world during the launch earlier this month.
Talking about the other drivers, Alpine's Fernando Alonso finished P7 and behind him were: Nicholas Latifi (Williams), Nikita Mazepin (Haas) and Robert Kubica (Alfa Romeo's reserve driver).
Top 10 of Day 1 (morning session) in Barcelona:
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
5. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
7. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
8. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
9. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
10. Robert Kubica (Alfa Romeo)
Meanwhile, some of the other drivers like Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Mick Schumacher (Haas) are slated to return to track in the evening session on Day 1.
