After a very active first morning at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the cars of the ten teams on the Formula 1 grid returned to the Catalan asphalt to compete in the last four hours of testing on this first day of preseason in 2022.
As for the drivers, the afternoon started with some news. While some of the drivers remained behind the wheel of their cars, Carlos Sainz Jr., Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Mick Schumacher and Valtteri Bottas took over from their teammates.
As a related anecdote, during the first hours of the afternoon session the FOM time table placed Esteban Ocon on the track, but the driver who was actually driving the car was Fernando Alonso, something that provoked jokes on social networks even by Alpine and the French pilot.
At the end of the first day of preseason at the circuit located in Montmeló, McLaren led the time table with Lando Norris as the protagonist. The British driver lowered his time in the afternoon and posted a best time of 1m19.951s on the C4 tyre, as well as completing a total of 103 laps.
Behind those from Woking, Ferrari placed its two drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, in that same order. The Spanish driver could not beat the time of his Monegasque teammate also with the C3 in the afternoon session, although he was very close with a time of 1:20.416 and more than 70 laps, which combined with those of the #16 add up to more than 140 .
Mercedes also lined up its two drivers, in fourth and fifth position. Lewis Hamilton set a 1:20.929 during the afternoon that did not improve the time of his new partner, nor in the number of laps. Between the two, the star team exceeded 120 laps, a good mileage for this first day on the track.
Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin finished sixth, with a time of 1m21.276s on the C3 tire and 52 laps behind them. Yuki Tsunoda, at the wheel of AlphaTauri, clocked 1:21.638, also with the C3 compound, although the really important thing was the mileage: 121 laps for the Japanese.
The first C2 tire to appear was that of Fernando Alonso, who finished eighth with a time of 1:21.746 at the wheel of Alpine’s A522 and 127 laps, ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas who completed the top 10, with a 1: 22.246 for the Red Bull Racing driver, also with the C2 and after more than 147 laps, being the driver who did the most filming on this first day.
Alex Albon and Williams stayed out of the top ten with a time of 1:22.760, just ahead of a Mick Schumacher who added 23 laps, which together with the 20 of Nikita Mazepin, in penultimate position in terms of times, do not leave very good feeling for Haas.
Nicholas Latifi and Lance Stroll did not have their best days in terms of times either, but at least they managed to accumulate a good handful of laps, both exceeding fifty by far. Robert Kubica, with the C3 tire, finished with the worst time of the first day of preseason in Barcelona, a 1:25.909 and only nine laps, which plus the 23 of Bottas add up to 32, very poor numbers also for Alfa Romeo.
Results, times and positions of day 1 of the Barcelona 2022 F1 tests
Results, times and positions of day 1 of the Barcelona 2022 F1 tests| Pilot | Equipment | laps | Time (tyre) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lando Norris |
McLaren | 103 | 1’19″568  |
| 2 |  Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari | 80 | 1’20″165  |
| 3 |  Carlos Sainz |
ferrari | 73 | 1’20″416 |
| 4 | George Russell |
Mercedes | 77 | 1’20″784 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 50 | 1’20″929 |
| 6 |  Sebastian Vettel |
Aston Martin | 52 | 1’21″276 |
| 7 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri | 121 | 1’21 “638 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso |
Alpine | 127 | 1’21″746  |
| 9 |  Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 147 | 1’22″246 |
| 10 |  Valtteri Bottas |
Alfa Romeo | 23 | 1’22″572 |
| 11 |  Alex Albon |
williams | 66 | 1’22″760 |
| 12 | Mick Schumacher |
Haas | 23 | 1’22″962 |
| 13 |  Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin | 67 | 1’23″327 |
| 14 | Nicholas Latifi |
Williams | 66 | 1’23″379 |
| 15 |  Nikita Mazepin |
Haas | 20 | 1’24″505 |
| 16 |  Robert Kubica |
Alfa Romeo | 9 | 1’25″909 |
Gallery: the best photos from the 2022 F1 tests in Barcelona
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
