Hamilton ahead on first test day as teams rack up mileage

F1 Test, Barcelona, Circuit de Catalunya

The first day of 2020 pre-season testing has come to an end with Lewis Hamilton easily setting the fastest time. Throughout the day, there were remarkably few problems, leading to lots of running.

Already in the morning session there were little issues, and the same continued in the afternoon.

Red Bull Racing for instance had Max Verstappen in the car for the entire day, and he'll surely sleep well after a solid 168 laps. With Vettel ill, Leclerc also had a busy full day, but he ended up at 131 laps.

Still, when looking at cars and teams, Mercedes probably had the best day of all. The World Champions saw both their cars at the top of the timesheet, with both drivers totalling 173 laps on the counter of the W11. This target was explained by the team's technical director, James Allison, who stated in an interview that in this year's 6 days of testing, the team is aiming to do as much mileage as on last year's 8 days.

Williams also have plenty of reasons to be optimistic, with their first day with the new FW43 being trouble free and totalling 136 laps. Last year, on the first day of testing, the team didn't even manage to come out on track.

At Racing Point, driver duties were shared between Perez and Stroll, combining up to 108 laps.