Barcelona Day 1 summary: Vettel flying, Williams (literally) absent

After the first day of testing ahead of the 2019 Formula 1 season, Sebastian Vettel has had a productive day in Barcelona, setting the fastest lap by far while also running well over 150 laps.

No more snow in Spain like in 2018, so a very productive Monday indeed at the Circuit de Catalunya. Several red flags, yes, but a lot of driving as well. Four drivers logged over 100 laps - Vettel, as previously mentioned, as well as Max Verstappen (128), Carlos Sainz Jr. (119) and Kimi Raikkonen (114). Unsurprisingly, these four drivers made for four of the five quickest lap times.

The compounds, with their new names, C1-5, didn't all get used. Mercedes and Renault did their running on the C2, while a lot of other drivers bolted on the C3. We're not sure whether we like the new names, but it's easier to understand for the fans, that's for sure.

Let's talk about some of the storylines from Monday.

Don't worry, Mercedes fans

You might look at the leaderboard and see Vettel being two whole seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton, but that won't mean much. For one, Vettel's lap was on the softer compound, and Mercedes clearly weren't focussing on one-lap pace today. Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton logged 69 and 81 laps respectively, which isn't much, but plenty of data points have been collected by Mercedes.

Bottas finished ahead of Hamilton, with the Finn getting 1:20.127 on the C2 tyre, 0.008 quicker than the reigning champion. Is it the beard?

Williams have a nightmare

The point of testing is, well, to test. Williams announced they won't be testing until at least Wednesday, which means they miss a crucial opportunity to gather data on the FW42 in the first few days. The team had its worst season in team history in 2018, and they're off to a rough start already in 2019. 

Read: BREAKING: Williams won't be on track until Wednesday "at the earliest"!

Especially with a rookie on the books and a veteran who hasn't competed in F1 since 2010, it's crucial to give them the opportunity to get used to their new car. George Russell and Robert Kubica are two very talented drivers, yes, but they won't amount to anything if Williams don't get their act together.

Ferrari draw first blood

Sebastian Vettel wasn't just the fastest man on the day, but he put in the most laps as well. The German logged 169 laps, which is more than the two Mercedes cars combined and over 50 more than any other car. He's grabbing this opportunity to get some serious mileage on his SF90 before the season starts as he hopes to equal Hamilton's championship-count of five.

Vettel's time was set in the morning but never got challenged, as the 31-year-old himself focussed on long-runs in the afternoon (hence the 169 laps!).

The rest of the imaginary podium was filled out by McLaren's Carlos Sainz Jr., who was the only man to come within a second of Vettel. Haas F1's Romain Grosjean came third, continuing the American team's trend of last season of performing amazingly in pre-season training. 

The first day back at school is officially over. Here’s what happened on day one of #F1testing @Circuitcat_eng pic.twitter.com/O6Kwid3Gki

— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) 18 February 2019