Abu Dhabi, Pirelli F1 Test, Day 1: Vettel still at the top at 16:30, immediately fast

All the same with regard to the first three positions of the general clbadification of the first day of the test of Formula 1 Pirelli on the circuit of Yas Marina.

Sebastian Vettel retains his first place thanks to a time of 1: 36,812 in front of Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes W09 and Max Verstappen's Red Bull, while the Ferrari driver only made 6 laps over the course of the season. last two hours doing long-term simulations after having already exceeded the limit of 100 laps.

Sergio Perez, fourth in the standings, gave the wheel of Racing Point Force India to his new teammate Lance Stroll. The Canadian was immediately impressed, as he has already driven only 2 tenths of a second off the best reference of the Mexican rider.

A great start for Lance, who in 2019 will have to show what it really is worth after two very difficult seasons with Williams. Nico Hulkenberg is behind the two pilots of Racing Point Force India, separated by them by 9 and 7 tenths.

The Renault German, as well as Bottas and Verstappen, began their long-term work with Pirelli's new tires for the 2019 World Championship. George Russell instead sold the wheel of the Williams FW41 to Robert Kubica. Today, the Grove team has made its two riders for the first time.

Russell and Kubica are seventh and ninth respectively. Among them is the Alfa Romeo Sauber of Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn is gaining confidence with the C37 which, even in the last race of the 2018 season, finished in points thanks to Charles Leclerc. Kimi's improved to 1 "39" at 878, reaching 366 thousandths of a second from Russell.

Even Lando Norris with Williams and Sean Gelael with Toro Rosso seem to be engaged in the evaluation of Pirelli 2019 tires over long distances. Pietro Fittipaldi is still motionless in the pits after the power supply problem that forced him to stop the VF-18 along the track. In the box Haas appeared the screens that cover the replacement operations of the American car engine. In a few minutes, Fittipaldi should get back on track with a new power unit.