Daniel Ricciardo drives his McLaren at F1 testing in Barcelona on Thursday

Daniel Ricciardo gets his first proper taste of the new Formula 1 regulations when he takes his McLaren out on track tonight in Barcelona.

After watching his teammate Lando Norris complete 472 kilometres on the first day of pre-season testing on Wednesday, the Australian gets his chance today, starting at 7pm AEDT.

F1 started the first of its two, three-day testings on Wednesday, with many big names hitting the Barcelona circuit.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was out all day in his Red Bull, while Mercedes gave both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell a chance on day one.

Ricciardo will head out on track with a car that appeared sharp in the first testing session of the year.

Norris set the fastest time of the day, with a lap of 1 minute 19.586 seconds, with both Ferrari drivers of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz coming second and third.

While this is promising, McLaren's executive director James Key was quick to hose down any suggestion that the historic team had the fastest car.

«We're not taking any notice of lap times at the moment, it's all about learning and following our own directions and priorities,» Key said at the end of day one.

«We gathered some important data points during this first day of testing and learned a great deal, both to carry forward for the rest of this test and also to use as we develop the car further.

»I think we can be pleased with the number of laps we've covered with Lando today and look forward to going again with Daniel tomorrow."

No man drove more kilometres on day one than reigning world champion Verstappen, who logged 147 laps around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Red Bull, which is looking to replicate the success of last season, has pulled the covers off the RB18 at its factory