Leclerc keeps Ferrari ahead as Gasly crashes

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F1 Test, Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunyaes

Charles Leclerc made a succesful debut for Ferrari, as his first full day of testing the new SF90 saw him set the fastest time of the day. Just like Vettel on Monday, he was easily ahead of the competition.

It wasn't just a good day for Ferrari though, as McLaren's rookie, Lando Norris ended up second fastest on the McLaren MCL34 in another trouble free day for the team.

Kevin Magnussen was third fastest, even though he only participated in the test before noon. As the Haas team discovered an issue with his driver's seat, Magnussen had to sit out the rest of the day, allowing Pietro Fittipaldo to make his first run in the VF-19.

Alexander Albon was fourth in the Toro Rosso. The Thai-British driver set 130 laps for the Honda-powered squad, after spinning out on his first out lap this morning. Giovinazzi was fifth for Alfa Romeo.

Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes was 6th fastest, completing another fairly anonymous session for Mercedes. At no point does the Mercedes AMG F1 team seem interested to do any performance runs (yet).

Pierre Gasly ended up 7th fastest, a time he set before he crashed his Red Bull RB15 an hour before the end of the session. Damage to the car seems enough to give the mechanics quite a bit of work overnight to get things fixed for Wednesday.

The Frenchman though wasn't really downbeat after his first day with the RB15: "It was amazing. After the winter break, I was excited to get back, and it was important for me to do more than 90 laps on my first day with Red Bull Racing. It was positive, and we feel there is good potential with the car."

Renault's duo Hulkenberg and Ricciardo were 8th and 9th. Ricciardo stranded at just 28 laps after the upper flap of the R.S.19's rear wing broke while DRS was opened on the main straight. Ricciardo ended up into the gravel, and to a standstill just before hitting the barriers.

Lewis Hamilton did the morning session for Mercedes, and was only faster than Lance Stroll in the Racing Point, and Pietro Fittipaldi.

Testing continues tomorrow at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, probably with Williams joining the other 9 teams after midday.

Results

Pos.DriverTeamTimeGapLaps
1Charles LeclercFerrari1:18.247-157
2Lando NorrisMcLaren1:18.553+0.306104
3Kevin MagnussenHaas F11:19.206+0.95959
4Alexander AlbonToro Rosso1:19.301+1.054132
5Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo Racing1:19.312+1.065101
6Valtteri BottasMercedes1:19.535+1.28889
7Pierre GaslyRed Bull Racing1:19.814+1.56792
8Nico HülkenbergRenault1:19.837+1.59095
9Daniel RicciardoRenault1:19.886+1.63928
10Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:19.928+1.68174
11Lance StrollRacing Point1:20.433+2.18679
12Pietro FittipaldiHaas F11:21.849+3.60213