It is now well known that pre-main sequence models with inflated radii should be taken into account to simultaneously reproduce the colour-magnitude diagram and the lithium depletion pattern observed in young open star clusters. We test a new set of pre-main sequence models including radius inflation due to the presence of starspots or to magnetic inhibition of convection, using five clusters observed by the Gaia-ESO Survey, spanning the age range ~10-100Myr where such effects could be important. The Gaia-ESO Survey radial velocities are combined with astrometry from Gaia EDR3 to obtain clean lists of high-probability members for the five clusters. A Bayesian maximum likelihood method is adopted to fit the observed cluster sequences to theoretical predictions to derive the best model parameters and the cluster reddening and age. Models are calculated with different values of the mixing length parameter ({alpha}ML=2.0, 1.5 and 1.0), for the cases with no spots or with effective spot coverage {beta}spot=0.2 and 0.4. The models are also compared with the observed lithium depletion patterns. To reproduce the colour-magnitude diagram and the observed lithium depletion pattern in Gamma Vel A and B and in 25 Ori one needs to assume both a reduced convection efficiency, with {alpha}ML=1.0, and an effective surface spot coverage of about 20%. We obtained ages of 18^+1.5^-4.0 Myr and 21^+3.5^-3.0 Myr for Gamma Vel A and B, respectively, and 19^+1.5^-7.0 Myr for 25 Ori. However, a single isochrone is not sufficient to account for the lithium dispersion, and an increasing level of spot coverage as mass decreases seems to be required. On the other hand, the older clusters (NGC 2451B at 30^+3.0^-5.0_Myr, NGC 2547 at 35^+4.0^-4.0_Myr, and NGC 2516 at 138^+48^-42_Myr) are consistent with standard models, with {alpha}_ML=2.0 and no spots, except at low masses: a 20% spot coverage appears to better reproduce the sequence of M-type stars and might explain the observed spread in lithium abundances. The quality of Gaia-ESO data combined with Gaia allows us to gain important insights on pre-main sequence evolution. Models including starspots can provide a consistent explanation of the cluster sequences and lithium abundances observed in young clusters, although a range of starspot coverage is required to fully reproduce the data.

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/659/A85/tableb1 (High-probability members of 25 Ori)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/659/A85/tableb2 (High-probability members of Gamma Vel A)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/659/A85/tableb3 (High-probability members of Gamma Vel B)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/659/A85/tableb4 (High-probability members of NGC2451B)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/659/A85/tableb5 (High-probability members of NGC2547)

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/659/A85/tableb6 (High-probability members of NGC2516)