quoteSebastian Vettel starts year with test of 2014 Ferrari F1 car Sebastian Vettel has returned to action with Ferrari ahead of the 2016 Formula 1 season.
Vettel has conducted a number of laps at Ferrari's Fiorano test track in the 2014 car - the F14T - for what a Scuderia spokesperson has informed Autosport is "a correlation test with the simulator".
Under FIA sporting regulations, and with consent from the FIA, a team is allowed to run a car from either 2012, '13 or '14 without modification, known as 'testing of previous cars'.
No team is allowed to test any new components on such a car, which also is only permitted to run on tyres for the specific aim of such a test.
The test run is all part of four-time champion Vettel's preparations with Ferrari going into the new campaign as he has also been involved in numerous meetings at Maranello in recent days.
Vettel will return to the cockpit of the 2015 car at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France next week as Pirelli conducts a two-day wet-weather tyre test.
The German will share the driving duties with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, with the team yet to determine which driver will run on Monday and Tuesday.
The Ferrari pair will be accompanied by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, and McLaren reserve Stoffel Vandoorne.
Kimi Raikkonen admitted he was not convinced by the wet-weather prototype tyres provided by Pirelli during the first day of testing at Paul Ricard.
The Ferrari driver completed nearly 100 laps on Monday, as Pirelli tried prototype rubber and last year's tyres side-by-side on an artificially-watered circuit.
The Finn said it was still early days to judge the performance of the new tyres, but conceded he felt more comfortable with last year's rubber.
"I think it's too early to say," Raikkonen told reporters after the session.
"We had the same as last year and some of the new ones, but I think we prefer last year's ones, but it's a bit too early to say."
He added: "I think it was okay. We haven't driven for a while. We can learn from this. It helps to understand more.
"I think here is as good a wet tyre test as you can get because it's similar conditions all the time. We help Pirelli and it's useful for us, so I think it was okay."
Raikkonen was slowest of the three drivers on track today, as Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo set the pace.
Sebastian Vettel will take over at the wheel of the Ferrari for the second and final day of running tomorrow.
quote Q: Do you think that your team mate Kimi Raikkonen will push you more this season than he did last year - especially after team boss Maurizio Arrivabene’s ‘wake-up call’?
SV: He pushed pretty good but, was probably a bit unlucky at the beginning of last season. It is probably all too human that people’s memory is always very short lived - that they tend to forget. But if you look at the numbers it was rather close between the two of us and it will be close this year.
Q: No one likes to see one team dominate all the time. Can you rise to challenge Mercedes this season?
SV: Believe me I want to win again - races, and the title. The whole of Ferrari is burning to achieve that and we will fight until the very last lap of the very last race! Then let’s see where it took us!