Vettel: Ferrari close to perfection on day one of testing

Sebastian Vettel said his Ferrari SF90 was "close to perfection" after topping both the timesheets and the lap count on the first day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. Vettel clocked 1:18.161 on the medium compound tyre on one of his whopping 169 laps.

Although set-up across the grid will remain guarded, Vettel's headline time raised eyebrows regardless, just two seconds down on Lewis Hamilton's pole lap here at last year's Spanish GP.

Vettel was quick to dampen expectations as a result of Monday's running, but he was full of praise for the work done by the team regardless.

"We couldn't have hoped for a better day. I think it was unbelievable," Vettel said.

Less than 15 minutes to go on day one and @ScuderiaFerrari will probably not have two many better opening days to winter testing. Quickest by four-tenths (yes I know it’s a bit early to read into times) with a whopping 165 laps on the board! ???? #F1Testing — Rob Watts (@robwattsf1) February 18, 2019

"The car was working really well, we had no issues slowing us down. We actually completed the program just the way we wanted. And we're able to squeeze a little bit more out even.

"Obviously it's very early, the first day and it's meaningless in a couple of weeks.

"But for now I think huge compliments to everyone back in the factory. How they tackled the new rules and regulations and what they put on track today is very close to perfection in the first day of driving.

"The amount of laps that we did how the team was handling the car and obviously everything is more on the edge compared to last year car and tight and so on, what you'd imagine but as I said no major dramas. So from that point of view we were very, very well prepared."

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