Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel outgunned reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton to the fastest time as the 2016 Formula One season got underway with the first test in Barcelona Monday. The Italian giant is expected to pose an even stronger challenge to Hamilton's Mercedes this season after Vettel showed signs of a Ferrari revival by winning three races last season. The four-time world champion was nearly half a second faster than Hamilton in a time of 1min 24.939sec. However, after dominating the sport for the past two seasons, Mercedes' reliability sent another warning shot to the rest of the paddock as Hamilton ran the most mileage with 66 laps before lunch. Williams was again the best of the rest as Valtteri Bottas was third fastest. Mclaren-Honda made a significant improvement on its disastrous performances in testing last season which set up a hugely disappointing return season to the sport for the Japanese manufacturer. Jenson Button managed 35 laps, but the MP4-31 was still well down on pace nearly three seconds behind Vettel in sixth fastest. Haas, the first American owned team in Formula One for 30 years, took its first tentative steps as Romain Grosjean logged 13 laps, but his session was ended prematurely by a broken front wing that temporarily stopped running. Manor Racing was the only team to struggle mightily as new German recruit Pascal Wehrlein managed just seven laps and was over six seconds adrift of the field. Hamilton's teammate Nico Rosberg will be driving for the first time Tuesday, as will Button's teammate Fernando Alonso. The first day of tests — nearly three months after the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2015 — started on a damp track and under overcast skies in the Catalan capital. Mercedes has dominated the last two F1 seasons and — with no major regulation changes for 2016 — is expected to be the team to catch this year. The test sessions in Barcelona should indicate if any of its rivals have made significant gains — or if once again the fight will be for second place. The final test sessions for the 2016 season are scheduled for March 1-4, also in Barcelona. The first of 21 races is on March 20 in Australia. Most teams had already launched their new cars online and through social media, but some made their official presentation to the media on the pit lane, with drivers and team members posing for photos in front of cars before Monday tests got underway. Among them were Haas, the first American-led team in F1 since 1986, and Renault, which took over financially strapped Lotus. Mercedes and Force India also introduced their cars at the track. — Agencies
