Formula 1 pre-season testing: Lewis Hamilton calls for 'non-biased' stewards

As pre-season testing began on Wednesday, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton called for Formula 1 to ensure race officials were not biased.

The Mercedes driver, who set the fifth fastest time on day one in Barcelona, said it was essential for stewards to have no bias.

He returned to the track just over two months after losing the title.

There should be more women in the stewards room.

The governing body of F1 set up a new race-management structure after race director Michael Masi failed to apply the rules correctly in the title-deciding final race.

The sequence of events that led to Hamilton, who had dominated the race before a late safety-car period, losing the lead and the title to Red Bull's Max Verstappen on the final racing lap after a restart in Abu Dhabi was central to Masi's actions.

Masi was removed as race director and replaced by Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich. The support structure has been beefed up and includes an F1 version of the VAR.

The F1 stewards panel has a former driver on it.

Race drivers are good friends with some people. Some people travel with certain people and take a liking to them.

When it comes to making decisions, only people who have no bias are essential.

He wanted to see more women in the room.

There were maybe one or two last year. It would be great to have a male and female race directors. That is a great way to promote diversity.

The FIA is proud of its global stewarding pathway that connects and develops the most talented stewards from across motor sport.

This has resulted in a strong, independent and experienced group of officials who carry out their work with impartiality and professionalism.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he wasn't aware of any stewards travelling to races, adding that he didn't think there was any bias from stewards during the last seasons.

What happened in testing?

The fastest time on the first day of testing was set by Lando Norris of McLaren.

The McLaren was on a softer tire than the Ferrari, but it was still 0.6 seconds quicker than Charles Leclerc.

The Mercedes pair of George Russell and Hamilton were all on the same compound of tyre, and Leclerc was just under a second quicker than team-mate Carlos Sainz.

World champion Verstappen was ninth fastest, nearly two seconds off the pace, but on a harder tyre than the drivers ahead of him.

There are so many factors that can disguise true pace that headline lap times in testing are notoriously inaccurate.

Leading teams Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari all ran well over 100 laps on the first day of running new cars.

Hamilton said before driving the Mercedes that he was confident his team would find a solution to the new rules.

"Why would I ever think that?" Hamilton asked, when asked if he was concerned they may have not interpreted them as well as some other teams. We have won eight titles in a row.

Of course there is a risk but we don't make mistakes. The people in our factory are very smart. I trust in them and whatever we do today, we will work through it.

The new Red Bull attracted a lot of attention on the first day in Barcelona, after the team used a fake car at their official launch two weeks ago.

The new RB18 features a switch to unconventional pull-rod front suspension, as well as aggressively undercut side-pods in the search for optimum airflow.

This is where the suspension arm runs from the top of the wheel to the bottom of the body.

The push-rod has advantages in terms of suspension operation but the pull-rod has aerodynamic advantages. The last time a pull-rod front was used was by Ferrari. This season, McLaren also adopted it.

What were the drivers' fastest times?

1. Lando Norris has a McLaren.

2. Charles Leclerc is in a car in one minute.

3. Carlos Sainz is fromSpa.

4. George Russell is in a Mercedes.

5. Lewis Hamilton has a Mercedes.

6. The time is 1:21.276 for Sebastian Vettel.

7. Alpha Tauri by Yuki Tsunoda is 1:21.638.

There are 8. Fernando Alonso is in the Alpine.

There are 9. Max Verstappen is a Red Bull athlete.

10. Valtteri Bottas is driving an Alfa Romeo.

11. Alex Albon has a time of 1:22.760.

There are 12. The time is 1:22.962 for Mick Schumacher.

13 Lance Stroll is a member of the Can.

There are 14. Nicholas Latifi is from Canada.

15. Nikita Mazepin is from Russia.

16. Robert Kubica is in an Alfa Romeo.

All other times are set on the C3 tyre. C1 and C5 are both hard.