Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time as Formula 1’s new era got underway at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Monday.
Hamilton, who drove during the afternoon session, clocked a best lap of 1:21.765s on soft tyres in the W08, beating his pole position time from last year’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led the way in the morning session and improved on Medium tyres during the afternoon, but fell 0.113s short of overhauling Hamilton.
Hamilton also debuted a ‘shark fin’ on the Mercedes W08, after team-mate Valtteri Bottas ran a more traditional engine cover during the morning session.
Bottas wound up sixth overall, with Mercedes’ combined mileage for the day comfortably the most of all teams, racking up over two Grands Prix distances.
Felipe Massa placed third for Williams as he received his first taste of the FW40, clocking up over a century of laps in the process.
Kevin Magnussen had an inauspicious start to life with Haas as he locked his brakes on the approach to Turn 10 and swiped the wall, causing damage to the front wing of his VF-17.
Magnussen was able to recover to the pit lane and eventually finished the day in fourth place, following a late burst of pace on the Soft tyres.
Red Bull caused the only red flag of the day during the opening hour when Daniel Ricciardo stopped on the approach to Turn 4, having completed just three laps.
The problem was diagnosed as an engine sensor problem, but a further issue with the battery accentuated matters, initially putting Red Bull on the back foot.
Fortunately for the team, Ricciardo was able to return to action during the afternoon and he placed fifth, having completed 50 laps.
Force India’s Sergio Pérez was seventh, ahead of Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr. and Renault’s new recruit Nico Hülkenberg.
McLaren endured a troublesome start to 2017 when an oil systems problem was detected with the Honda-powered MCL32, after Fernando Alonso had completed just a sole installation lap.
Alonso remained in the garage until mid-afternoon, after which he was able to embark on McLaren’s programme, albeit his running limited to only 29 laps.
Marcus Ericsson finished at the foot of the table in the Sauber C36, with its year-old Ferrari power unit, five seconds off the pace, though was able to rack up over a race distance worth of mileage.
Formula 1 testing continues on Tuesday from 09:00 to 18:00 local time, with a one-hour break for lunch at 13:00.
See also: Chained to the Rhythm – F1 is back
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Tyre | Laps |
| 1 |  Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 1:21.765 |  |
73 | |
| 2 |  Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari | 1:21.878 | 0.113 |  |
128 |
| 3 |  Felipe Massa |
Williams | 1:22.076 | 0.311 | |
103 |
| 4 |  Kevin Magnussen |
Haas | 1:22.894 | 1.129 | |
51 |
| 5 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
Red Bull | 1:22.926 | 1.161 | |
50 |
| 6 |  Valtteri Bottas |
Mercedes | 1:23.169 | 1.404 | |
79 |
| 7 |  Sergio Perez |
Force India | 1:23.709 | 1.944 | |
39 |
| 8 |  Carlos Sainz |
Toro Rosso | 1:24.494 | 2.729 | |
51 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg |
Renault | 1:24.784 | 3.019 | |
57 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso |
McLaren | 1:24.852 | 3.087 | |
29 |
| 11 |  Marcus Ericsson |
Sauber | 1:26.841 | 5.076 | |
72 |
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