Mercedes and Ferrari had impressive starts to pre-season testing as Red Bull and McLaren hit trouble. Lewis Hamilton was fastest as Mercedes completed more than 140 laps with both their drivers at Circuit de Catalunya. Hamilton was 0.113 seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari, which also ran reliably and used the slower medium tyre with the Mercedes on the soft. By contrast, the mileage of Red Bull and McLaren was limited by recurring reliability problems in Barcelona. Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas, a replacement for the now-retired world champion Nico Rosberg, was fifth fastest. The Finn was 1.404secs slower than British three-time champion Hamilton but as he ran in the...
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