Driver quotes after 1st day of winter testing

Yesterday was one of the most exciting days of the season, when almost all Formula 1 teams had to break cover to test their new cars on Catalunya circuit.

Some teams had worked on their project for over a year and the F1 car launch pictures are mostly Photoshop versions of the real deal.

This year a lot has changed in F1 since last season. 6 drivers changed teams, 3 driver re-entered as driver and 3 new drivers started as rookie this 2019 F1 season. On the team side not much changed.

Only Red Bull switched from Renault power to Honda power, Force India changed their name to Racing Point, Haas got a new title sponsor and changed their livery to black and Sauber changed their Name to Alfa Romeo Racing.

The drivers were very excited to get their hands on their new version of the fastest cars on the planet. After one day of testing this is what they said:

Mercedes quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Lewis Hamilton (81 laps - best lap 1:20.135)

Lewis Hamilton

"It’s good to be back in the car and it’s great to see the car is running as smoothly at it is. It feels quite a bit different compared to last year and we’re now getting to know it, trying to understand the balance and trying to understand the characteristics we’re working with.

It’s been a positive first day, we got through our running plan and there’s lots for us to learn about the new car which we will be working on."

Valtteri Bottas (69 laps - best lap 1:20.127)

Valtteri Bottas

"I quite enjoyed this morning, it’s good to be back at the track. I did 69 laps and there were no major issues with the car, so it was a relatively successful run.

Since the car is brand new, we immediately found ways to improve the balance and the behaviour and we will continue to work on that in the next days. It’s good to see the car running well and it proves that the entire team is doing a great job, both in Brackley and Brixworth, but also here at the track.

I’m looking forward to a more time in the car tomorrow afternoon."

Ferrari quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Sebastian Vettel (169 laps - best lap 1:18.161)

Sebastian Vettel

“The first impression from today is very good. I could not have hoped for a better day, as the car worked really well and we had no issues slowing us down.

We completed the programme just the way we wanted. Coming here I was pretty open minded and had no expectations and I didn’t need that much time to familiar with the car, as it was making everything quite straightforward for me. I must say I am still a bit rusty, as I haven’t been driving for several months, but I’ll sleep well tonight”.

“It is too early to sum it up, as it’s just the first day – Vettel added – but I would like to send my compliments to everyone back at the factory in Maranello for how they tackled all the new rules and what they put on track today and also how the team is handling the car in a well prepared way”.

Red Bull Racing quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Max Verstappen (128 laps - best lap 1:19.426)

Max Verstappen

“To do 128 laps on the first day of testing is a really good day, so I’m very happy with that. We collected a lot of data, which is really important, and we’ll analyse everything tonight to see what we can improve on tomorrow when Pierre is in the car.

I’ll also go into detail tonight and tomorrow to see where I can improve for my second day. So far, so good and I’m happy that we were able to do so many laps. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.”

Renault quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Daniel Ricciardo (44 laps - best lap 1:20.980)

Daniel Ricciardo

“It’s a good feeling to be behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car again after a long winter waiting. Today was about bedding ourselves back into it and, for me, continuing to learn about a new car and a new team.

It was a decent afternoon and it’s important we keep increasing our mileage. We have plenty to analyse but it’s been a promising first official day. I’m excited to hit the track again and develop this new relationship.”

Nico Hulkenberg (65 laps - best lap 1:20.980)

Nico Hulkenberg

“It was fun and very enjoyable to be back driving a Formula 1 car. You forget how fast these cars are, especially Turns 3 and 9 around here, so it’s great to be back driving again.

My first impressions are promising, we didn’t have too many problems this morning and that meant we were able to get a decent amount of laps in. We were looking to start on the right foot today so it’s good to get 65 laps on the board and ease ourselves back in.

We have things to assess and I’m looking forward to continuing the work over the next couple of days.”

Alfa Romeo quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Kimi Raikkonen (114 laps - best lap 1:19.462)

Kimi Raikkonen

“The car looks great. The livery design is nice. A lot of partners have joined to support this team which is a positive, and we thank them for believing in us.

I look forward to getting on track now and learning more about the C38 during the next two weeks of testing.”

Racing Point quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Sergio Pérez (30 laps - best lap 1:19.944)

Sergio Pérez

“It was a typical first day of testing, with a lot of checks and not a lot of running. It was effectively our shakedown and, even though the day was a bit shorter than expected, I felt quite happy with the car straight away.

\The mileage wasn’t great but I think it was still a promising start. I am happy with the performance we managed to get out of the car and with its balance. The conditions weren’t great: the track was quite cold and green to begin with, but I end the first day feeling positive.

It was important to start understanding the car as much as we could and for me to make myself comfortable with it as a driver.”

Haas quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Romain Grosjean (65 laps - best lap 1:19.159)

Romain Grosjean

I think we can be happy enough with our day, in terms of the car’s feeling. We didn’t have a smooth run in the morning, but saying that, the afternoon went better. We had lost a fair bit of track time, but we recovered to put in some good runs.

The team’s done a good job again to produce a car that’s very nice to drive. There’s more work to do obviously, we need to understand the car, but at the minute I’m very happy with what we’ve got.”

McLaren quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Carlos Sainz (119 laps - best lap 1:18.558)

Carlos Sainz

“It looks like our hard work has paid off today. It’s been a very positive start as we’ve been able to run without big issues, play a bit with the set-up of the car and gather data to analyse. Good job everyone, because almost 120 laps on the first day is a good step.

“There’s still a lot of margin to improve the car. Following today’s work, we know more clearly the direction we want to try. Now we have the information for a strong debrief, so we will keep working and moving forward.”

Toro Rosso quotes 1st day of testing 2019

Daniil Kvyat (77 laps - best lap 1:19.464)

Daniil Kvyat

"It was a productive day today and it's good to be back behind the wheel. We managed to do quite a few laps, which is important on the first day of testing to get some mileage under your belt so you can see how the car behaves. It's too early to draw conclusions, but I think we have a good baseline for now and we need to keep working on that.

Every time we were on track it was smooth running, and everyone was operating at a high level. I have another three days in the car which gives us the chance to improve on the things we worked on today, so we will look over the data to see which direction we will take on Wednesday. I worked with my new engineers and we all understood each other well straight away. It was certainly a good start."

See more 1st day F1 testing info and lap times

See beautiful pictures of the 1st day of F1 testing in Spain.

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