Sebastian Vettel made the perfect start to his Ferrari career by sending the Italian team to the top of the timesheets on the opening day of pre-season testing at Jerez on Sunday.
The four-time world champion, who switched to Ferrari from Red Bull over the winter, completed 60 laps in the new SF15-T, setting a best time of 1m 22.620s in the afternoon session to go clear of the field.
The second-fastest time on the day went to Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson who, like Vettel, was making his first appearance for his new team. The Swede, who completed 73 laps, took his blue and yellow C34 round in 1m 22.777s late in the day to demote early pacesetter Nico Rosberg to third.
The loss of position would have mattered little to Rosberg on a day when reigning champions Mercedes demonstrated ominous form. Having shaken down the F1 W06 Hybrid at Silverstone last week, the German clocked up a remarkable 157 laps in the freshly-unveiled car - a tally more than twice that managed by any other team.
Daniel Ricciardo was fourth-quickest in Red Bull’s uniquely liveried RB11, though mechanical issues restricted the Australian to just 35 laps. Williams, meanwhile, were late to join proceedings, but eventually completed a useful 73 laps and set the fifth-fastest time with Valtteri Bottas at the wheel of the FW37.
Carlos Sainz Junior recorded the sixth-quickest time as he gave Toro Rosso’s STR10 its maiden outing, though it proved a rather stop-start day for the Spanish rookie who caused the session's second red-flag stoppage when he came to a halt on the back straight towards the end of the session.
The times were rounded out by Fernando Alonso who managed just six laps in McLaren's new Honda-powered MP4-30. The Spaniard did complete one timed effort, though it was a full 18 seconds off the leading pace.
Absent from the timesheet were Force India, who have opted to skip the first test completely, and Lotus, whose car only arrived in Spain late on Sunday. The Enstone-based team say the E23 Hybrid is now undergoing its build programme and is not expected to run until the third day of the test on Tuesday.
Unofficial Sunday testing times from Jerez
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1m 22.620s, 60 laps
2. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1m 22.777s, 73 laps
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 23.106s, 157 laps
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 23.338s, 35 laps
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 23.906s, 73 laps
6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1m 25.327s, 46 laps
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1m 40.738s, 6 laps
(source: f1.com)
