Vettel sets pace for Ferrari in Jerez test

Scuderia Ferrari

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time on the opening day of the first pre-season test at Jerez on Sunday.

Vettel took to the track in the SF15-T as soon as action began this morning and clocked his fastest time during the afternoon session, when he posted a lap of 1:22.620.

Vettel’s time was just over a tenth faster than Sauber signing Marcus Ericsson.

Ericsson completed sufficient running in the blue-and-yellow Sauber C34, with the Swede briefly bringing out the red flags when he spun on a damp patch early on.

For much of the day it was the impressive Nico Rosberg who sat atop the timesheets for defending champions Mercedes.

Rosberg racked up the miles in Mercedes’ new W06 Hybrid and ended the day with an impressive 157 laps

Daniel Ricciardo gave the Red Bull RB11 its public debut in a striking black and white interim testing livery.

Ricciardo completed 22 laps in the morning – ensuring Red Bull racked up more laps than in last year’s entire four day test – before a smoky engine confined him to the garage for several hours.

Williams unveiled its Mercedes-powered FW37 in the pit lane at the start of the day and Valtteri Bottas racked up the miles after spending the first few hours in the garage.

Spanish rookie Carlos Sainz Jr received an outing in the Toro Rosso STR10 and his running was halted briefly when he stopped out on track during the final hour.

Fernando Alonso drove a McLaren for the first time in seven years as the Spaniard rolled out the Honda-powered MP4-30 mid-morning.

Alonso completed several slow laps before returning to the garage, where he remained for the remainder of the day as McLaren dealt with issues.

Lotus did not run its new Mercedes-powered E23 Hybrid as the car was late arriving at Jerez.

The Enstone-based team confirmed mid-morning that the car was on its way to Spain having been fired up for the first time at the factory on Saturday.