Vettel fastest with Ferrari as F1 tests resume

MONTMELO, SPAIN — Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel got off to a good start as the final week of Formula One testing began on Tuesday, setting the fastest time and running the most laps at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona on Tuesday.

Vettel showed Ferrari’s strength by finishing the day with a time of 1 minute, 20.396 seconds, two tenths faster than Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes. Max Verstappen was close behind with Red Bull, followed by the Mercedes of defending champion Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel ran 171 laps on Tuesday, 41 more than Verstappen, the driver closest to him on the lap charts. The only other driver to break the 100-lap mark was Marcus Ericsson of Sauber, with 120. Mercedes totalled 177 laps as Hamilton and Bottas split driving time.

McLaren, using a Renault engine this season after three dismal years with Honda, struggled with reliability issues as Stoffel Vandoorne was twice stranded on the track. The team said “a power shutdown” caused the problem.

Vandoorne ended the day with 38 laps, the fewest among the 13 drivers who were on the track. The Belgian driver had the thirdfastest time overall in last week’s tests.

Vandoorne’s teammate, twotime world champion Fernando Alonso, ran a few laps on Monday on a “filming day,” but he will not test until Wednesday.

Teams will test until Friday.