Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led Tuesday’s running at Formula 1’s opening pre-season test as Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly crashed out.
Leclerc set a time of 1:18.247, on the C3 tyres that were preferred by most drivers, during the morning session, and it remained unbeaten throughout the afternoon.
Ferrari’s new recruit was also the most productive driver, completing 157 laps, albeit his time and lap chart slightly down on Vettel's efforts on Monday.
On a relatively quiet second day of action, the biggest drama befell Red Bull newcomer Gasly.
Gasly spun through Turn 12 on a hot lap and caused damage to the rear-end of his RB15 after hitting the barriers.
The accident brought Gasly’s running to a conclusion with around an hour of the day still to go.
McLaren’s Lando Norris put in a couple of late improvements to finish second on his first day in the MCL34, finishing three-tenths behind leader Leclerc.
Kevin Magnussen wound up third for Haas before concluding his day early due to a seat fit issue.
Haas instead handed track time to reserve Pietro Fittipaldi – who was already scheduled to drive across Wednesday and Thursday – as he completed a handful of laps.
Alexander Albon recovered from an early spin into the gravel to place fourth on his first day as a fully-fledged Toro Rosso drive, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
Mercedes again split running between Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, with the Finn sixth and Hamilton rounding out the top 10; their combined mileage ensured the team completed the most laps through the course of the eight-hour day.
The team typically avoids setting pace-setting times during pre-season testing.
Renault pair Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo placed eighth and ninth respectively, with Ricciardo’s running coming to an early end when he suffered a DRS failure into Turn 1.
Ricciardo was pitched into a spin but stopped short of making contact with the wall, and he was able to recover his R.S.19 to the pit lane.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll finished 11th on his first day in the RP19, in front of Haas tester Fittipaldi.
Williams again did not participate due to delays in readying its FW42.
Williams expects its new car to arrive at the circuit early on Wednesday morning and hopes to run it for the first time during the afternoon session.
Testing resumes at 09:00 on Wednesday.
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | Tyres |
1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:18.247 | 157 | C3 | |
2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:18.553 | 0.306 | 104 | C4 |
3 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:19.206 | 0.959 | 59 | C3 |
4 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso | 1:19.301 | 1.054 | 132 | C4 |
5 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1:19.312 | 1.065 | 101 | C4 |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:19.535 | 1.288 | 89 | C3 |
7 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | 1:19.814 | 1.567 | 92 | C3 |
8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:19.837 | 1.590 | 95 | C3 |
9 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1:19.886 | 1.639 | 28 | C3 |
10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:19.928 | 1.681 | 74 | C3 |
11 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 1:20.433 | 2.186 | 79 | C3 |
12 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas | 1:21.849 | 3.602 | 13 | C3 |