F1 Pre Season Testing Day 1: A Rundown on the First Laps in Barcelona as Norris & McLaren Set the Benchmark

Formula One is back with a bang as the drivers got the first taste of their new-era cars during the opening day of the pre-season testing in Barcelona. And amongst the 16 drivers that took part on Wednesday, Max Verstappen turned up as the most productive driver of all, having managed to complete a total of whopping 147 laps.

Quite extraordinary despite the fact that Red Bull allotted the entire day of running to the Dutchman while his teammate, Sergio Perez will hit the track on day 2.

The only other drivers that hit the triple-figures in terms of laps completed were Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda, and Lando Norris. The latter all even topped the timesheets by the end of day 1 as icing on the cake. Hence, overall, a positive start for McLaren and also their 2021 rivals, Ferrari, as it was Charles Leclerc who secured the fastest lap in the morning session.

Haas and Alfa Romeo endure a tough start to 2022

Haas have been on a rugged path in F1 in recent years. There just hasn’t been a result that the American outfit could look back and cherish over the last couple of years. And, almost the same goes for Alfa Romeo too, albeit with a few decent qualifying and race outings in 2021.

Nevertheless, a lot was expected from the pair heading into the new era. But, so far, things don’t seem as bright for either, after having endured a tough day 1 of testing filled with issues. While Haas only managed to complete 43 laps using both Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, it was even worse for the Sauber-led outfit.

Valtteri Bottas and reserve driver, Robert Kubica, put together around 32 laps over the 9 hours. Will this slow start come back to haunt them at the start of the actual season in Bahrain? Well, too early to say, but, if the little gremlins continue to stick with the pair, the chances of Alfa Romeo and Haas continuing to struggle in F1 is quite high.

2022 F1 cars not as complicated?

Well, not per se! The cars seem very tricky and the drivers, despite restricting themselves from having any moment on the track, are struggling to find their way around the early blues with the new regulations. Daniel Ricciardo acknowledged a lot of blind spots in the new-era cars and having to depend on intuition on several occasions.

“There are always blind spots in the car, so you have to use a lot of your intuition as well when you’re racing side by side,” the Honey Badger said.

“But I think that creates sometimes the art of a good battle. You use your other instincts or rely on other things to pull off a move or defend well. There will be a bit more for us to adjust to, especially in the early days of 2022 but maybe by a couple of races in we’ll be like, ‘Ah, we don’t really feel it anymore.‘”

Overall, day 1 of testing is complete and the next day is all set to begin in hours’ time! And it is highly likely that Norris’ lap time of 1:19:568 will not stay at the top for long. So, are we in for a more positive second day of pre-season testing in Barcelona?

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