Vettel marathon impresses, as Williams absence raises concern

Sebastian Vettel drove nearly three Spanish Grand Prix race distances into his Ferrari SF90 as the Scuderia made the most of the first day of F1 pre-season testing in Barcelona, but the headlines came away from the circuit as Williams' woes plunged to new depths.

Vettel topped the largely immaterial timesheets, but it was his lap count that caught the eye, the German driving a huge 169 laps.

Also in triple figures were Mercedes – with running split between Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton – Carlos Sainz's McLaren, the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen, who hit 128 laps in Red Bul's first major run with Honda, despite a slow start to the day. Renault also hit three figures between Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo.

The first day back at school is officially over. Here’s what happened on day one of #F1testing @Circuitcat_eng???? pic.twitter.com/O6Kwid3Gki — Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) February 18, 2019

Red Bull boss team principal compared the Honda power unit to a Swiss clock during day one and the issues which had hampered McLaren-Honda in pre-season tests of the past were nowhere to be seen, suggesting Red Bull's bullish claims over the winter could be well-founded.

Sergio Perez managed just 30 laps for Racing Point, who are believed to not be running the car expected to feature in the season-opening race in Australia.

However, matters are much worse for Williams, who did not take part on Monday, and later revealed they are unlikely to run on Tuesday either.

According to BBC Sport, the wait could even stretch into Wednesday afternoon as the team desperately struggles to get the FW42 finalised. The BBC reported that the new car could be significantly slower than its 2018 predecessor, suggesting the Grove squad will once again be nothing more than backmarkers this year.

DAY ONE HEADLINES

Williams to miss second day of pre-season testing
'Red Bull will win races with Honda in 2019'
Ferrari's Vettel team orders admission a 'statement' - Wolff
Mercedes could leave UK in event of no deal Brexit

FROM THE TRACK

Toto Wolff says a no deal Brexit would have a “major impact” on the Mercedes team’s operations and would make it difficult for the team to remain being based in the UK. #F1Testing — Rob Watts (@robwattsf1) February 18, 2019

A further update from @WilliamsRacing - the car is currently still at the factory, but the intention is to run on Wednesday and it will be the FW42 in full 2019 spec. #F1Testing — Rob Watts (@robwattsf1) February 18, 2019

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An early start to catch the Alfa Romeo @sauberf1team launch its new car for the 2019 season. #F1Testing #F1 #Motorsport #F12019 #Travel

A post shared by Rob Watts (@robwattsf1) on Feb 17, 2019 at 11:51pm PST