Strong start puts Vettel and Ferrari in charge in Barcelona!

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari topped the time-sheet at lunch time on the first day of pre-season testing a the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

The German put 72 laps under his belt, the most of any driver, and enjoyed over a 1.6s advantage over Racing point's Sergio Perez, while Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas was third, almost two second adrift from Vettel.

Pre-season test Day 1 - lunchtime

Teams kicked off pre-season testing under a clear blue sky but with crisp and cold temperatures, with the Circuit de Catalunya basking in just 6 degrees Celsius.

Cars took to the track sporting their usual array of testing sensors and 'cheese graters' as the start of the day was devoted to collecting data collecting.

Ferrari's SF90 in particular - with Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel - was fitted out with an impressive amount of evaluation equipment.

Shortly into the session, Kimi Raikkonen brought out the first red flag of the day when the Iceman beached his Alfa Romeo in the gravel at Turn 5, fortunately with no damage to his car which was quickly put on a flatbed and brought back to its garage.

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas clocked in some early times in the mid 1.24 range, but Vettel quickly overhauled the Finn, the Ferrari driver eventually shaving four seconds off that time.

Red Bull enjoyed a quiet start to 2019, the Honda-powered Rb15 with max Verstappen onboard only undertaking installation laps 90 minutes into the session.

Almost two hours in, a second red flag was brought out courtesy of Romain Grosjean's Haas stopping just before the chicane as a result of a fuel pressure issue.

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Up front, Vettel continued to rake in the laps and improve his speed, the German descending into the 1.18s, followed by an impressive Sergio Perez at the wheel of Racing Point's RP19, and Bottas, with all drivers setting their times on Pirelli's soft C2 tyre.

Vettel was the first man to put 50 laps under his belt. Relentless, his tally reached 72 when the session ended for lunch.

Mercedes, Red Bull, Renault and McLaren also topped 50 laps in the opening four hours of pre-season testing.

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