F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Ricciardo puts Red Bull at the top of the timesheet!

Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo topped the timesheets mid-day, on the first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona.

The Aussie clocked in with 59 laps under his belt and the wheels of the team's new RB14, and a best lap of 1m20.179.

Both Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen were hot on the heels of their front-running rival however, with 0.327s covering the top three, nicely confirming at the outset the Red Bull-Mercedes-Ferrari hegemony.

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg was hard at work all morning, accumulating 73 laps of mileage - the most of any driver - and ending up fourth, just 0.368s adrift from the fastest time.

The session's first red flag was caused by a mechanical wheel-nut failure on Fernando Alonso's McLaren, an incident which deprived the team of three hours of track time.

Further down the pit lane, Toro Rosso and Brendon Hartley put its new STR13 through its paces, much to the pleasure of engine partner Honda which achieved more laps in the half-session that in an entiure day of running last year with McLaren.

Force India development driver Nikita Mazepin caused the morning's only other red flag when he spun at Turn 4, a mishap which left the Russian at the bottom of the timesheets, just behind Sauber's Marcus Ericsson.

Testing will resume at 2:00pm, and you can follow the action LIVE here.

Pre-season test Day 1 - lunchtime

Pos Driver Team Time Laps Tyre
1  Ricciardo  Red Bull  1:20.179 60 M
2  Bottas  Mercedes  1:20.349 58 M
3  Räikkönen  Ferrari  1:20.506 60 S
4  Hülkenberg  Renault  1:20.547 73 S
5  Hartley  Toro Rosso  1:22.371 72 S
6  Stroll  Williams  1:22.452 46 S
7  Grosjean  Haas  1:23.092 32 S
8  Alonso  McLaren  1:24.202 10 SS
9  Ericsson  Sauber  1:24.897 41 M
10  Mazepin  Force India  1:25.628 22 M

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.

Recent Posts

Vowles warns 2026 weight limit will catch F1 teams out

When F1’s radically redesigned 2026 cars finally roll out in Barcelona at the end of…

13 hours ago

Why Verstappen isn’t expecting much running at F1’s first test

Max Verstappen has never been one to sugar-coat reality – and as Formula 1 braces…

15 hours ago

Revolut’s CMO slams Ferrari: ‘How can you put blue on a red car?’

Ferrari have survived decades of criticism about strategy calls, driver politics and pit stops that…

16 hours ago

Mercedes 2026 advantage in doubt after concerning claim

While the paddock has been whispering for months that Mercedes might be holding the winning…

18 hours ago

Our salute on this day to Big Dan

Dan Gurney passed away on this day in 2018, and here at F1i we'll never…

19 hours ago

Jules Bianchi’s final kart recovered after theft

What began as a painful reminder of loss has ended with a moment of profound…

20 hours ago