With Charles Leclerc sitting comfortably atop the timing screens for Ferrari, putting together the end-of-day Formula 1 testing report with around 20 minutes left on the clock seemed like a safe bet. Although Leclerc remained P1 for Ferrari, a minor rewrite was required after a surprise name popped up into second place with a couple of quick lap times. Lando Norris’ first run in the new McLaren MCL34 car ended on a real high. He initially went P2 after lapping six-tenths off Leclerc’s time before managing to shave another 0.3 seconds off his PB in the final five minutes. He may have been running on a softer compound tyre than Leclerc (C4 to C3), but it was nevertheless a time that caught the attention of those in the Barcelona paddock. Two days down, two P2 finishes, and two 100-lap days. For starters, things have been very encouraging for McLaren. We’ve seen how a difficult pre-season can act as a warning sign of things to come, particularly in the past two turbulent years. 2017’s opening test acted as the first fracture in the final break of McLaren’s relationship with Honda as issue after issue limited its running. While 2018 was more encouraging, there were still a number of teething problems that foreshadowed the difficult season to follow. This time around though, things have been going far more smoothly – acting as another key shift compared to recent times for the team – as both Norris and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. have hit the ground running with the new car. Pace is always hard to judge this early on, making mileage the key stat teams can take comfort in. And if you’re McLaren, compared to recent years, it makes for very good reading indeed. After Sainz managed 119 laps on Monday, Norris racked up 104 today to give the team a cumulative total of 223 for the first two days of running. Last year, the team managed only 88 laps through the first two days in Barcelona, and ended the test with a final total of 260, largely thanks to a mammoth final day in which 161 laps were completed. The third day saw Fernando Alonso only manage 11 laps as snow hit the circuit, so this figure will likely have been higher. McLaren is already ahead of the curve compared to where it stood in its final year with Honda. It managed only 69 laps through the first two days of testing in 2017, and ended the first four tests on 208 laps. The team may trail Ferrari (326), Mercedes (313) and Renault (232) for laps, but given its recent struggles, to be sitting fourth on the mileage charts will come as a boost to everyone at the team, as well as easing any nerves the team may have had coming into pre-season testing. The final point is particularly crucial to Norris, for whom every lap is key entering his rookie F1 season. “It’s good to know that we can get through pretty much a whole day with no big problems,” said Norris. “But it’s only day two. I’m sure we’re going to run into a couple of problems at some point, but it’s just making sure I guess that we can get through this whole test. We know what the problems might be on the car that could come up, so it’s just making sure we figure them out before Australia, and none of them pop up, knowing that we could have fixed it at some point over these couple of weeks. “It’s good confidence from myself and from the team, knowing that there’s not a lot to keep chasing up on and keep checking after every run. I think for the team side as well, it’s good for them, knowing they’re going to be confident getting through every run plan possible through every day.” Norris also said he could note an improvement in the team’s mood compared to last year – perhaps unsurprising given that 12 months ago, every press session with then-racing director Eric Boullier seemed to start with words to the effect of “what happened to cause the breakdown…” “I definitely think it is an improvement from last year,” said Norris. “Obviously I wasn’t the driver last year, so wasn’t as integrated as what I am now. But in terms of seeing everyone, the motivation from everyone, how they work as a whole group and a family pretty much, it definitely seems to be going in the right direction. “It’s not perfect, but I think some of the problems that we have had or some of the niggles that we’ve had to overcome have been ironed out slowly. It’s just trying to make sure everyone works in the right direction and in a positive way, but it’s still going to take a bit more time before I think everyone is working together in the correct way. “But it’s going in the right direction, which is the main thing.” Norris cautious optimism echoes the feelings that came out of McLaren at its car launch last week. The team isn’t looking to make massive statements or set its goals sky high, but instead focus on doing the best job it possibly can and work on what it can control. And that this stage, mileage is king – so the team deserves credit for that. And Norris wasn’t looking to make any sweeping declarations about the step the MCL34 car has made over last year’s troublesome MCL33 when asked it the new model had resolved many of its predecessor’s issues. “It’s a different car to last year, there’s a lot of different things - but also the car is very different in terms of aero I guess compared to last year with the [regulation] differences,” said Norris. “Some things we’ve improved on from a car perspective, but there’s a lot to work on, a lot of stuff that we’ve learned over the last couple of days that we need to fairly quickly develop and improve on for the rest of the test, but also going into the first race. “It’s hard to say if all the problems are gone. There are still some things that we struggle with. It’s not a perfect car, for sure. “But I think so far, so good, and between Carlos and myself, we’re reasonably happy with how everything felt so far.” So far, so good indeed. The goal for McLaren will now be to build on this solid foundation and carry this early promise through pre-season.<doc-sep>Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets as Ferrari made an impressively fast start to F1 2019 on the first day of pre-season testing. "I couldn't have hoped for a better first day," said the German. "Unbelievable." But while anticipation is building for another blockbuster battle between Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull this season, it was McLaren who emerged as the Scuderia's closest challengers on Day One. World champion Lewis Hamilton was only ninth quickest. Mercedes did, however, complete a combined 150 laps after Valtteri Bottas ran in the morning session. Mercedes: Hamilton in best ever shape Williams set to miss Day Two of test F1 Testing: Live on Sky Sports F1 Sebastian Vettel was quick. Very quick. Ferrari and Vettel's flying start trumps McLaren Vettel flew out of the blocks to set his fastest time, a 1:18.161 just before lunch, a benchmark that didn't look likely to be challenged before Carlos Sainz's eyebrow-raising late surge in the MCL34. In the closing stages of a fascinating first day, Sainz lapped within half a second of Vettel - an encouraging feat for a McLaren team so desperate for improvement this year. But this was still Ferrari's day. Vettel also posted the most laps -170 - while his fastest time was two seconds quicker than anything we saw at this stage last year. Two Ferrari-powered teams, meanwhile, in Haas and Alfa Romeo occupied third and fifth through Romain Grosjean and the experienced Kimi Raikkonen respectively. Red Bull enjoyed a solid first day with Honda engines, with Max Verstappen fourth and over a second off Vettel's eye-catching pace but also racking up over a century of laps. "So far so good," said the Dutchman. "Everything was working quite well, we did quite a lot of laps. I'm happy about that but it's still the first day. "We're happy and we'll keep improving. Like everyone else we still need to learn the car, still need to learn the engine." The biggest enigma were Mercedes as the world champions opted for longer runs, failing to trouble the leading times all day. Bottas and Hamilton split the running for the Silver Arrows, only slotting into eighth and ninth with a fastest time of 1:20.127. Renault also appeared to be holding something back, with Nico Hulkenberg and new recruit Daniel Ricciardo surprisingly propping up the timesheets. Williams, meanwhile, didn't get out on track at all and have also ruled themselves out of Day Two - meaning the Grove team are set to miss a quarter of F1 Testing. F1 Testing: Day One, Test One Timesheet Driver Team Total laps Fastest tyre Fastest lap Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 169 C3 1:18.161 Carlos Sainz McLaren 119 C4 1:18..558 Romain Grosjean Haas 65 C3 1:19.159 Max Verstappen Red Bull 128 C3 1:19.426 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 114 C3 1:19.462 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 77 C4 1:19.464 Sergio Perez Racing Point 30 C3 1:19.944 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 69 C2 1:20.127 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 81 C2 1:20.135 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 65 C2 1:20.980 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 44 C2 1:20.983 Compound 2=2019 Medium tyre Compound 3=2019 Soft tyre Compound 4=2019 Hypersoft tyre Day One at Barcelona in quotes Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari "I couldn't have hoped for a better first day. Unbelievable. If we can maintain the level of enjoyment and fun that I found on the track today and saw in people's faces the last couple of months then I'm positive and hopeful for the future." Toto Wolff, Mercedes "I've seen [Vettel's] time and the time was very quick." Christian Horner, Red Bull "It's a very good starting point [for the Honda engine]. The installation looks great, it's beautifully integrated into the car and we're hopefully going to see exciting progress through the year." Zak Brown, McLaren "It's been a good first day. We're coming off a very difficult few years and obviously last year's first day of testing didn't go to plan and today has." Franz Tost, Toro Rosso "[Honda] have made big progress over the winter - from the reliability side as well as the performance side," Day One at Barcelona in pictures McLaren were quick even before the green light - Carlos Sainz was first onto the track ahead of Valtteri Bottas Lewis Hamilton had the morning off for Mercedes, but completed 81 laps in the afternoon alone. Romain Grosjean ground to a halt at the final chicane. He only completed 65 laps. Kimi Raikkonen caused two red flags, one early on after spinning into the gravel. Daniil Kvyat enjoyed an encouraging return to F1, within a tenth of the Red Bull. Get the dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel - the exclusive home of all live F1 next season - for £18 a month in HD with no contract. Get Sky Sports F1.<doc-sep>McLaren Renault fastest top speed but Mercedes still cruising After two days of Formula 1 preseason testing, Renault are leading in the top speed stakes as Lando Norris recorded the top speed in the McLaren of 337 kph but it is pretty obvious that Ferrari and Mercedes, in particular, are yet to unleash their best. Top Speeds In a report published on the official F1 website, stats Honda in second on 229 kph which was recorded by Max Verstappen on the first day of testing in Spain. Notably, Mercedes were slowest at around 326 kph, suggesting that for now they are simply in cruise-mode and when they do crank it up they are likely to tickle the 340 kph and perhaps even break it. Racing Point are also likely to benefit from the extra horses when they are made available, as the RP19 with Sergio Perez at the wheel looked like a handy piece of kit. Ferrari is sure to have some added oomph in their bag of tricks and of course, it will be interesting to see what Honda’s ‘party mode’ has in store. For now Renault… (make that their customer team McLaren) are fastest down the main straight, but that is likely to change in the forthcoming days. Data Gathering Ferrari are the only engine supplier with six cars running during the first Formula preseason test in Barcelona, which makes them top of the all-important data collection stakes during the first two days of on-track action. Renault and Honda are each supplying two teams each while Ferrari have three as do Mercedes, but with the Williams no show they lost out on the extra data acquisition. Thus Ferrari-powered cars have covered over 300 laps around the Spanish Grand Prix venue, next best are Mercedes on just under 250 laps racked up during the first two days.<doc-sep>
Lando Norris says there is “good confidence” in McLaren after getting through the opening two days of Formula 1 pre-season testing without encountering any “big problems”. The 19-year-old rookie turned in an impressive day for McLaren as he logged 104 laps on his way to finishing just three tenths off the pace of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Tuesday, adding to the mileage Carlos Sainz racked up on the opening day. Barring a brief stoppage for Sainz on Monday due to a loss of power, McLaren has run largely issue-free in a stark contrast to winter tests of previous years. “I managed to do some longer runs, something I haven’t managed to do so much of in any other tests so far,” Norris said at the end of his first day behind the wheel of the MCL34. “So for myself it’s good to know that we can get through pretty much a whole day with no big problems. “But it’s only day two. I’m sure we’re going to run into a couple of problems at some point, but it’s just making sure I guess that we can get through this whole test. “We know what the problems might be on the car that could come up,” he added. “So it’s just making sure we figure them out before Australia, and none of them pop up, knowing that we could have fixed it at some point over these couple of weeks. “It’s good confidence from myself and from the team knowing that there’s not a lot to keep chasing up on and keep checking after every run. “I think for the team side as well, and it’s good for them knowing they’re going to be confident getting through every run plan possible through every day.” Norris drove McLaren’s 2018 challenger during seven practice sessions last year and is confident the team has made a step forward with its MCL34, though he stressed it is “not a perfect car”. “Some things we’ve improved on from a car perspective,” Norris explained. “But there’s a lot to work on - a lot of stuff that we’ve learned over the last couple of days that we need to fairly quickly develop and improve on for the rest of the test and going into the first race. “It’s hard to say if all the problems are gone. There are still some things that we struggle with. It’s not a perfect car, for sure. But I think so far, so good, and between Carlos [Sainz] and myself, we’re reasonably happy with how everything felt so far. “These next few days, the car is probably never going to look perfect. We’re trying to explore every area we can to make sure by the end of this test, we know the correct direction to work and develop the car in. “So throughout the season, we know where to push the car or what areas we really have to develop to become better or make the car faster.”