Vettel quickest for Ferrari at Jerez

epa04599603 German Formula One driver of Ferrari team, Sebastian Vettel, steers his car during a training session at Jerez racetrack in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, 01 February 2015. EPA/Roman Rios

epa04599603 German Formula One driver of Ferrari team, Sebastian Vettel, steers his car during a training session at Jerez racetrack in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, 01 February 2015. EPA/Roman Rios

Published Feb 2, 2015

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Jerez, Spain - Fernando Alonso made a troubled start to testing McLaren's new Formula One car in Spain on Sunday while champion Mercedes pounded out the laps and Sebastian Vettel went fastest for Ferrari.

Four-times world champion Vettel sent an early season warning to double world champion Mercedes by clocking the fastest time on his first day of testing with Ferrari in Jerez on Sunday.

Vettel was first out on the track, even sending a message by overtaking Nico Rosberg in the pit lane on the way out for his first lap in the SF15-T Ferrari.

It wasn't until well into the afternoon that he surpassed Rosberg on the track, though, as he posted a best time of 1m22.690s during his 60 laps.

Vettel's positive opening day was in stark contrast to his disastrous test in Jerez during a troubled final season with Red Bull last year when he lodged just 11 laps over two days.

ALONSO 18 SECONDS OFF THE PACE

Alonso, who has moved from Ferrari at the start of a new Honda-powered era for McLaren, completed just six laps on the first day of testing at the Jerez circuit.

He ended last on the timesheets, 18 seconds slower than four-times champion Vettel, who completed 60 laps in his first official outing for Ferrari after joining from Red Bull.

Alonso said, however, that the day had been much as expected.

“Obviously it was a slow start, as we knew it would be,” said the double world champion. “We saw last year how difficult it was for all the teams to complete laps especially in the first couple of days.”

Last year was the first season of the new V6 turbo hybrid engines that replaced the old V8s. Renault in particular struggled while Ferrari was also well off the performance of dominant Mercedes.

Honda is returning to Formula One as an engine supplier after pulling out of the sport in 2008 and all eyes were on McLaren to see how it performed.

McLaren Racing director Eric Boullier said: “Today was a challenging day, which was not surprising to us given that our car has been designed to a radical all-new size-zero philosophy.

“We're still in the process of analysing this afternoon's technical issues, systematically and methodically, in an effort to increase our mileage in the coming days.”

McLaren group head Ron Dennis said the engine was still a developmental unit with improvements to be made before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 15 March.

“The car is phenomenally tightly packaged in the back end,” he said.

“The problems that we are experiencing today are really stemming from the tense packaging that goes on inside the engine,” he added.

WAITING FOR SPONSORS

Dennis said McLaren would change the livery of the MP4-30 when there were commercial reasons for doing so. The former champion has lacked a title sponsor since telecoms giant Vodafone withdrew at the end of 2013 and turned up for the first pre-season test at Jerez with unbranded trucks and a car painted silver, black and red.

The livery seen so far has not impressed many fans, who had hoped for something bolder at the start of a new partnership with Honda, on social media.

Dennis said there had been discussions within the team, who have not won a race since 2012, but they would not change without reason.

"This is the livery of McLaren," he said. "It has always been a combination of these colours and it will only change for commercial reasons.

"It will change. But I'm not going to say when."

GREAT START

Mercedes, winners of 16 of the 19 races last year, showed every sign of picking up where they left off as Nico Rosberg pounded out 157 laps totalling nearly 700km.

“That was a great start to the winter testing,” Rosberg said. “In the beginning it's all about reliability and we managed to do a lot of mileage today.

“I was able to do some good long runs on the first day and that's really amazing.”

Rosberg will also be at the wheel on Tuesday, while Hamilton will run on Monday and Wednesday in the four days of testing.

Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff said: "The launch of a new car is an exciting moment for everybody involved. To see the product of all that hard work turn a wheel for the first time is a great source of pride - and rightly so.

"However, there is a long road ahead before we reach the first race. We must build a fast, reliable racing car to be able to compete with rivals whose ability and competitiveness can never be underestimated. At this point, every team is on zero points."

Mercedes says the new car delivers mechanical, structural, aerodynamic and weight saving developments over its predecessor following an intensive design phase.

RED BULL’S RICCIARDO ‘HOPING FOR A BEAST’

Red Bull presented the Renault-powered RB11, and ran it in a zebra-like camouflage livery to prevent rivals getting a closer look at the car, with Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel. The new car completed more laps in the first hour on track than it managed on the first day of a disastrous first test last season.

After four seasons of domination, the team recovered after a poor start last season to finish second behind Mercedes in the Constructors' championship.

That was a sign of things to come for the four-time constructors' champions as despite finishing second it was nearly 300 points behind Mercedes, for whom Lewis Hamilton sealed his second world championship.

Ricciardo's debut season with the team was the bright spark in 2014 as he beat out four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel to finish third in the drivers' standings.

He said before testing: "I hope it's going to be a beast. We'll soon find out.

“There was plenty of pressure on me last year to prove myself in a top team and I think everybody knows now what I'm capable of so I'm excited to build on what we achieved in 2014 and ready to give Mercedes a good fight."

Team principal Christian Horner said: "Our target is simple: to close down the gap to Mercedes. We were the only team other than Mercedes to win a Grand Prix in 2014 and we won three with Daniel.

We want to put Mercedes under as much pressure as we possibly can.

"We know what we're aiming at, we know what we need to achieve and I believe that with the RB11, with the drivers we have and with the new structures put in place we should be able to do that."

"It's an exciting and dynamic line-up," added Horner.

"We know the quality of Daniel following his performances last year and in Daniil we have an outstanding talent. The speed, commitment and determination he demonstrated were all the qualities we're looking for.

"They're young, hungry, they're incredibly quick and I think they are going to push each other very hard throughout the year."

With Vettel having moved on to Ferrari, 20-year-old Russian Daniil Kyvat will partner Ricciardo this season. He has just one full season of F1 racing under his belt, finishing 15th in the drivers' standings with Toro Rosso in 2014.

And, whilst he recognised the demands will be much higher at Red Bull, he refused to set any tangibile targets for the new campaign.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for me and I'm really looking forward to finally getting into the car. It's going to be cool.

"Though many people in the team know me quite well, there is still the challenge of entering a new team for myself.

"I haven't really set any targets for 2015. I just want to keep doing the best job possible with hard work and the right attitude and that's the best thing I can do."

NEW WILLIAMS A STEP UP

The new Williams Formula One car is a step up from the one that took the team to third place overall in 2014, Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas said on Sunday after the start of pre-season testing.

Bottas completed 73 laps of the Jerez circuit in southern Spain, after an initial delay caused by some parts arriving late, and the Finn said the day had gone well.

"We didn't have a single issue with the FW37, which is impressive for the first day with a new car," he said.

"The car was consistent, so it's a really good start to the week and we are pleased that it's still a step up from the car we had at the end of last season.

"There are a lot of strengths in this car and we've made good progress in just one day, so I am very pleased."

Mercedes-powered Williams is targeting wins this season after returning to the top three and finishing ahead of Ferrari in 2014.

Bottas expected the car to improve "massively" over the course of testing and the season.

"The car was already good last year but it feels better already," he told reporters.

LOTUS MAY NOT TEST BEFORE TUESDAY

Lotus failed to get its new Formula One car on track for the start of testing in Spain on Sunday and may have to wait until Tuesday before it makes a first appearance.

The team, which switched from Renault engines to Mercedes power units at the end of last season, explained that the new E23 car had only arrived in Jerez on Sunday after firing up at the factory for the first time the day before.

"The car is now undergoing its build programme overnight and through Monday, with the first significant running expected for Tuesday," the team added.

Lotus which has had financial difficulties and lost some key personnel, scored only 10 points last season and finished eighth overall after 315 the year before and ending up fourth overall.

Lotus said last week, when pictures of the new car were released, that they expected to be far more competitive this season but there was a huge push on to get it completed in time for Jerez.

Technical director Nick Chester said then that the E23 was "a massive step forward".

Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado and Frenchman Romain Grosjean are the drivers in an unchanged lineup

Reuters

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