McLaren took the car for first time in a filming day in Navarra. Fernando Alonso was the first who drove the new MCL33. He did 50 km and was positive about the feeling with the car. “Good times are coming, that’s the message,” said Alonso when asked to give a message to the fans. “We struggled, we kept the motivation very high and the team is stronger now than three years ago. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The last few years makes a very united team, a very strong team and we will see the first results this year.” After his initial run in the car, which was at relatively low-speed and with camera trucks on track, Alonso said it “felt great.”
Barcelona was the track choosen by three other teams: Renault, Sauber and Haas. Nico Hulkenberg was the first who drove the new RS18. The German driver completed 100 km.
“We don’t have all the aerodynamic parts yet, it’s just a filming day, it’s not the purpose to find out about the performance yet,” said Hulkenberg. “The car is running fine so far, everything is running smoothly so that’s the main thing that’s important today. Last year we had quite a troubled winter testing. We should be much more prepared and sorted than that this year.”
Romain Grosjean was the first who drove the new Haas. Asked where he hopes Haas’s new car will end up on the timing screens in the upcoming test, Grosjean said: “Ideally, within a second of the fastest car on the track.“Even though testing is always a little unclear, you never know what people are doing with fuel loads and tires and so on. “We generally have a pretty good idea of where we are. I want to be happy with the car and I want to be able to know where we can improve. I want a good early set-up for Melbourne.”
Alfa Romeo Sauber also did the filming day in Barcelona track. In this case, the two drivers drove the new car: Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc.