Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets on Day 1 of the pre-season test in Barcelona, but precautionary checks on the RB7 in the middle of the day limited the world champion’s running to just 37 laps.
The German had a couple of ‘minor offs’ in the morning session, prompting his Red Bull team to complete the checks in the middle of the day. He set the fastest lap, a 1:24.374, as the day drew to a close.
“Unfortunately, we didn't complete many laps today, as we had a long break – longer than expected,” Vettel explained. “It wasn't anything big, nothing broke, but at the test if you think there might be a problem then you'd rather take the car apart and check. The boys did their best and we still got some runs towards the end of the day – not as much as we'd like, but the car feels good and hopefully we'll do more tomorrow.”
Ian Morgan, Head of Race Engineering, echoed the comments of his driver: “It was frustrating today, as we lost some time making checks to the car during lunch. It's what testing is for, but we would have liked to complete more laps today.”
Vettel is back in the car tomorrow for day two of the four-day test.
