Barcelona (dpa) - Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel could only watch the start of the Formula 1 tests. As the Scuderia announced, the four-time world champion felt "not great".
Therefore his stable rival Charles Leclerc took over the steering of the SF1000 for the whole day. A partial assignment is planned for the two pilots on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Thursday.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton (1: 16.976 minutes) secured the first best of the day ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who was 0.337 seconds slower. Together they did 173 laps in the W11 - more than any other racing team. Max Verstappen completed the entire test day alone in the cockpit of his Red Bull and was the front runner with 168 laps. Trial runs will continue in Catalonia until Friday.
The second test drives in Barcelona will take place from February 26th to 28th. In contrast to previous years, the Formula 1 teams had only six instead of eight practice days before the first Grand Prix of the year. Vettel & Co. will contest the opening race on March 15 in Melbourne.
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