February 27, 2017 – The new Formula 1 season unofficially kicked off as the first day of the first 2017 pre-season test took place today on Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Three time world champion Lewis Hamilton was the quickest of all in the new Mercedes W08 EQ Power+, clocking 1m21.765s on the yellow soft tyres, which was a tenth quicker than what Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel had managed on the white medium tyres.
Mercedes were also the leading team in terms of lap count, with Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas managing 152 laps combined.
It was a bad day for McLaren who missed the morning session due an oil system problem, while a sensor issue brought Daniel Ricciardo and his Red Bull to a stop. Both teams were able to run in the afternoon.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:21.765 | 73 | S |
| 2 | Vettel | Ferrari | 1:21.878 | 128 | M |
| 3 | Massa | Williams | 1:22.076 | 103 | S |
| 4 | Magnussen | Haas | 1:22.894 | 51 | S |
| 5 | Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:22.926 | 50 | S |
| 6 | Bottas | Mercedes | 1:23.169 | 79 | S |
| 7 | Perez | Force India | 1:23.709 | 39 | S |
| 8 | Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:24.494 | 51 | M |
| 9 | Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:24.784 | 57 | M |
| 10 | Alonso | McLaren | 1:24.852 | 29 | S |
| 11 | Ericsson | Sauber | 1:26.841 | 72 | M |
