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Charles Leclerc says there is plenty of positives to take from the opening day of pre-season testing as he set the second fastest time overall on Wednesday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver had been fastest in the morning session but was beaten in the final hour by McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris to the fastest time, although the Monegasque racer knows times mean very little at this stage of proceedings.

Leclerc was pleased to complete all the runs planned during Wednesday in Spain, and he is eager to return to the car on Thursday to build on what he learned and find out more about the F1-75.

“The first day of testing is behind us,” said Leclerc.  “This is always a really exciting moment at the start of each season. It was the first time that we could really push in our new car and it felt really good to be back behind the wheel.

“We completed all the tests we wanted to and ran through our full programme smoothly, which is good for a new car. I’m looking forward to being back on track again tomorrow. The initial feeling is not bad, but we shouldn’t get carried away by the timesheets today, as these are early days and everyone is still hiding their true form.

The opening day of the official Formula 1 shakedown test at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a bit of a nightmare for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, who hardly featured on track, or perhaps it was their camouflage livery giving away this perception!

The opening day saw issues for both Reserve Driver Robert Kubica and the newly signed Valtteri Bottas, who both lost valuable running time due to costly issues with the C42. Despite the opening day disappointment, Bottas was pleased to be in the car with his new team and is hoping to gain more valuable track time across the remaining days. The Finnish driver completed 23 laps on Wednesday.

“It’s always nice to get back behind the wheel after the winter break, especially with a new car, a new team and a new generation of Formula One cars. I did enjoy my time in the car, even though we had some issues that turned out to be pretty costly in terms of time lost. The important thing, however, is that we were able to understand them completely and we know how to fix them: we may have run out of time to do that today, but we still got some running under our belt and we know how to progress.

“Now I hope we can get two good days tomorrow and Friday to catch up on the time we lost today and complete our programme for the test. My first impression of the car is positive, so far I did not feel massive differences between the old-generation cars and the new ones, definitely not night and day. Of course, one needs to adjust the driving a little bit, but nothing too drastic: still, we have a lot of learning to do and we’re keen to get back to work on track tomorrow.”

“We had a couple of issues that limited our running” – Robert Kubica

It was Polish veteran Kubica who kicked-off the running for Alfa Romeo, even if it was very short-lived! Due to issues with the car the Polish driver was only able to complete nine laps of the Spanish Circuit. Despite the obvious shame, Kubica is proud of his team for doing a strong job at repairing the car and getting it back out onto the track.

It was a productive opening day of pre-season testing for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were able to complete a good number of laps to learn more about the characteristics of the W13.

Russell completed seventy-seven laps of the Spanish circuit in the morning session as he took part in his first official test with Mercedes since being confirmed to race for them in 2022, while team-mate Hamilton took over in the afternoon and was able to complete fifty more laps in a reliable and trouble-free day for the team.

Andrew Shovlin, the Trackside Engineering Director at Mercedes, admitted the day was ‘surprisingly straightforward’ as the W13 proved to be reliable, although the same could be said for many of the teams on the opening day of testing.

“We got through a lot of work today and both drivers have been able to give us their initial impressions of the W13,” said Shovlin.  “Overall the day has been surprisingly straightforward although looking up and down the pitlane, you can see how high the reliability standards are and most teams seemed to be running their programmes without issue.”

Shovlin says the limited testing available to teams – they have just six days in total before the season begins in earnest next month in Bahrain – so it is important to maximise the time they have on track and learn as much as they can as early as they can, particularly with the new aero regulations coming into effect this season.

Just 36 hours after launching their 2022 challenger the A522, the BWT Alpine F1 Team completed a highly successful opening day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with veteran Fernando Alonso behind the wheel.

Alonso was the sole driver for Alpine on the opening day of the official shakedown, the Spaniard got to grips with the A522 at his home circuit, completing a very impressive 129 laps. The Double World Champion also got the opportunity to be the first of the team’s drivers to test their new RE22 power unit. Alonso thoroughly enjoyed his first day back after the winter break and is incredibly proud of what Alpine have achieved.

“It’s good to be back after such a long wait. We’ve spent a long time preparing for this moment at both factories and in the garage, a lot of hours have gone into this moment. The cars are very different to last year and we need to adjust to a lot of new characteristics.

“We still have a lot of work to do but this is why we are at testing. We completed some good mileage and our reliability has been quite strong for the first day of testing. Mileage and reliability is more important than performance in testing, so overall we’re quite pleased with the first day in our new car.”

“The feedback from Fernando was good” – Alpine’s Matt Harman

Alpine Technical Director, Matt Harman, like Alonso was very proud to see the A522 finally out on track, after two and a half long years of preparation ahead of this year’s dramatic technical regulation changes. Harmann was pleased with the overall reliability of the car on the opening day and is excited to see Esteban Ocon behind the wheel on Thursday.

The 2022 Formula 1 season is officially technically underway, as the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya took place under beautiful sunshine. For Williams Racing it was a very productive day, Nicholas Latifi and new to the team Alex Albon completed a modest 66 laps in the new FW44.

Albon was second to go out on the opening day of testing, and ran the FW44 during the afternoon, it was the Thai driver’s first real experience behind the wheel of the FW44. Having spent a year out of Formula 1 competitively, Albon is very pleased at how his first day as a Williams driver went.

“I’m really happy with my first proper session in the FW44 this afternoon. The car felt great and the team here in Barcelona did an incredible job. We got some good mileage in which is really important and a great start to the year. The first days on track are usually spent making sure everything is running smoothly and, because it is, we managed to make a start working on the performance of the car. We only have six days testing before the first race, so to be honing in on performance already is a real positive. I’m looking forward to getting back out tomorrow morning!”

“You can tell it’s a different design philosophy” – Nicholas Latifi

It was Canadian Nicholas Latifi who got things underway for Williams, after being the first of the Williams drivers to run the FW44 under the Spanish sun. Latifi who is entering his third season in the sport and at Williams, found plenty of positives on the opening day, in what was a successful day’s work for the Canadian.

“The first session back in the car after a few months off is always interesting. You can tell it’s a different design philosophy, especially with the tyres, as it was my first time driving the new 18-inch Pirellis. Overall, it feels different and there are a few things that, for me, feel quite positive already compared to last year and there are things that need adjusting. But it is still very early days. This morning’s focus was about understanding the systems and the aero platform sensitivities. It was a good day overall.”

Douglas Motorsport will field a three-car attack for the 2022 GB3 Championship season, with Australian Marcos Flack graduating to the series for 2022.

Flack ran with Argenti Motorsport in the F4 British Championship last year, also competing in Italian Formula 4 and ADAC Formula 4 in his first season of single-seater racing.

He will also compete in Italian F4 with R-ace GP alongside his GB3 commitments, having made three starts with Cram Motorsport in the series in 2021.

Fellow Australian Tommy Smith and Walter Hayes Trophy winner Max Esterson will join him as the team looks to improve on its seventh-place finish in the Teams’ Championship.

While in British F4, Flack took three overall podiums and a Rookie Cup class win, gaining GB3 testing experience with Douglas towards the end of the season.

Jak Crawford was announced as a Prema Racing driver for the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship in January.

Since then, he’s competed in the Formula Regional Asian Championship (FRAC) with Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema.

The Red Bull junior driver took three podiums and a fastest lap in his first outings since a maiden FIA F3 campaign with Hitech GP in 2021.

Prema’s involvement in FRAC has given Crawford some key experience in working with the team as he looks to build on his sole podium finish in Race 1 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps last year.

“[FRAC] was definitely a learning series for me,” the American said.

Yuki Tsunoda enjoyed a positive opening testing day of 2022, with the Japanese racer completing one hundred and twenty-one laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Japanese racer was given the responsibility to be the first to run Scuderia AlphaTauri’s AT03 on Wednesday, and he was happy with how the day progressed as he almost two complete race distances without any drama.

Tsunoda said it was important to put mileage on the car, which is AlphaTauri’s first adhering to the new aerodynamic regulations in place in 2022, but the true pace will not be seen until the opening round of the season in Bahrain next month.

“It’s been a really productive day and a good start to testing for the team,” admitted Tsunoda. “This is the first proper outing in the 2022 car, so everything we’ve done has been super important for our learnings, as obviously this car is completely different to last year.

“Mileage, and also the changes we were making to the set-up, were key today and we managed to achieve everything we wanted to. We found a few things that we still need to play with but we’re happy with how things are going so far.

Max Verstappen said it was important for the Oracle Red Bull Racing team to get laps on the board on the opening day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday.

The reigning World Champion did just that, completing a day high one hundred and forty-seven laps, with the Dutchman’s best lap time good enough to see him place ninth fastest of the sixteen drivers to take to the Spanish track.

The RB18 was shown to the public for the first time on Wednesday, and whilst Verstappen acknowledges that it is a good-looking car, it is more important that it is fast, and that is what the team will be working on across the remainder of the testing season.

“I think the car looks good, but the most important thing is that it is fast, and that’s what we are trying to see,” said Verstappen.  “We wanted to get laps in today to get used to the car and to get a general understanding about how it’s behaving.

“As well as that, we needed the mileage to see how the parts held up. Everything worked pretty well, so it was a good start and a positive day. Tonight, we will look into things in more detail and see what we need to do to improve.

Pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya did not start the way the Uralkali Haas F1 Team were hoping for as they completed only forty-three laps across the eight hours of running on Wednesday.

A cooling leak during the morning session meant Nikita Mazepin could only manage twenty laps on board the VF-22, leaving him down in fifteenth place of the sixteen drivers to take to the track, but the Russian says it is important for them to get significant running in on Thursday to catch up.

“Firstly, it was great to get out,” said Mazepin.  “The whole team is coming alive, and the car has been born. It felt nice because the set-up and the way you run the car during these days is different to how we ran it on filming day.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get too many laps in – we had a cooling leak which prevented us from doing more laps – but it’s just the beginning. I think the car is looking strong when figuring out the balance.

“Everyone is learning about this very new car and there are some things that don’t quite match the simulations, but we’re quick learners!”

Arden Motorsport have finalised their 2022 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine line-up by signing Joshua Dürksen and Eduardo Barrichello to race alongside the already confirmed Noel León.

Paraguayan racer Dürksen steps up to FRECA having raced in the Italian Formula 4 championship in 2021, and he was twice a race winner as he finished sixth in the final standings.  He also has previous race winning experience in racing in the ADAC and UAE F4 championships.

Dürksen says he is delighted to be progressing his career into Formula 3 machinery for the first time with Arden Motorsport, and the eighteen-year-old is proud to be taking the Paraguayan flag around with him to such historic circuits as Spa-Francorchamps and Monaco.

“I am very happy to be taking a step forward in my career with the Arden motorsport team,” said Dürksen.  “Competing in this category is a new opportunity to advance my personal long-term project road to F1 and I think we took the right step since the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine is a very competitive category where I will race on incredible circuits like Spa Francorchamps and Monaco.

“It is also very special for me since I will be taking with me the Paraguayan flag to unique and new places. It will be historic for my country and a great pride for myself. I will do everything in my power to meet the expectations for all the support I am receiving from the fans, which excites and inspires me to do my best in this very special year.

Lando Norris topped the opening day of pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday as all ten teams took to the track in their new-look cars competitively for the first time.

Charles Leclerc had topped the morning session for Scuderia Ferrari, but overall, the best time of the day went the way of Norris and the McLaren F1 Team with a 1:19.568.  

However, as with any test session, times meant very little, particularly on a day like this when everyone was coming to terms with the feel of the new cars, which have all been designed around the new aerodynamic regulations.

Sixteen drivers took to the track on Wednesday, with Norris being the first of those to venture out when the green light illuminated early on in his MCL36. 

The only ones not to see any action were Norris’ team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon, Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez and Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s rookie Guanyu Zhou.

Estonian racer Paul Aron has completed Prema Racing’s Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine line-up for the 2022 season.

The eighteen-year-old remains with the team that took him to third place in the standings last year, with Aron taking two victories at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello as well as five further podium finishes.

Aron, who is a part of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s young driver programme, says he is eager to improve on what he achieved in 2021 and is bidding to become FRECA champion this time around.

“I’m very glad to announce that I will be joining PREMA Racing for another year in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine,” said Aron, who will join Swede Dino Beganovic and Colombian Sebastián Montoya in the team in 2022.

“We had a great run last year, but the job is not finished. It is now time to finish it.”

The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team will be starting their 2022 FIA World Rally Championship WRC2 class campaign in Rally Sweden this weekend and they have brought two of the finest upcoming talents to the team.

With most experience of snow and ice of them all in the team are the local talent Mattias Adielsson and the Finnish native Jari Huttunen, both entering for the team in a pair of Ford Fiesta Rally2.

Adielsson will be making his debut for the team in WRC on home soil, he has previously ran with support by M-Sport in the Swedish Rally Championship last season but now taking a step-up and joining for Rally Sweden.

Adielsson feels comfortable to be doing the home rally in a car that he knows well: “It will be a fantastic opportunity and proud moment for me to start our home rally in WRC with M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. I feel very well prepared for the upcoming challenge, and I know I have the material to be at our best in a Fiesta Rally2!“

“But I’m also humble and I know the guys in WRC2 are much more experienced drivers then I am; luckily it is our home surface and I think we can put down some really good pace during the rally once we start feeling comfortable.”

On Friday last week, the contract between the Belgian organizer of the Ypres Rally and the WRC Promoter for a FIA World Rally Championship round in 2022 was secured. The Belgian organiser Club Superstage has been working hard on securing the deal since the British organiser for the Wales Rally GB resigned their interest and assignment to host a round.

The Belgian organiser jumped in during 2021 as some rounds were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they were delivering successful results.

Two weeks ago, it was clear that Ypres was offered a place, all that was left was to secure the national federation and the region for the competition area’s financial support, something that is now clear.

Jona Siebel, managing director at WRC Promoter, welcomed the Belgian round: “Belgium brought something quite different to last year’s WRC due to its tricky special stages and fast-paced format, which meant there was little time for anyone to pause for breath.” 

“The Ypres region whole-heartedly throws itself into rally week. There’s a great buzz out on the stages and we’re sure that will be replicated in the town itself this time round when fans will be allowed in the beautiful Grote Markt service park.”