Can you believe that March has crept up on us already? The international motorsport season that started off with the Dakar Rally and the FIA World Rally Championship has progressed to the time of circuit-based action too.
Both the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the FIM MotoGP World Championship will commence from this month, and we are already well into pre-season testing for both.
MotoGP has been at it since late January, and now its four-wheel counterpart has gotten into the swing of things as well. The ten teams that will make up the grid for the 2018 F1 season got to see their well laid plans that they worked so hard on over the off-season put to the test from 26th February to March 1st.
Despite the third day of the first of two pre-season tests being wasted on account of snow at the 4.655km, 16-turn, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the job of racking up laps and testing the long-run pace of the new cars had to be done.
The circuit had been resurfaced prior to the test – long overdue – and teams did struggle a bit to get on the pace immediately, thanks to the cold weather that sometimes led to track temperatures in single digits.
So, let’s take a brief look at how the teams fared – in the order of where they finished in the 2017 constructors’ championship.
Mercedes – 306 laps, fastest time 1:19.333 set on day 4 on mediums by Lewis Hamilton
The defending constructors’ champions looked rock solid whenever they took to the track in terms of both pace and reliability. Their total lap count was the second highest among all teams and their pace was consistently fast. Defending drivers’ world champion Lewis Hamilton’s day four topping time came on a set of medium compound tyres that were three steps harder than the softest dry weather tyre made available to the teams by F1’s control supplier Pirelli. That should worry their opposition a lot, despite Hamilton wishing for the performance spread over the 20-driver field to be close in order to be able to ‘enjoy’ wins more. F1 fans too will hope that the others can step things up a bit.
Ferrari – 298 laps, fastest time 1:19.673 set on day 2 on softs by Sebastian Vettel
F1’s oldest team were not far behind Mercedes in terms of total distance covered. Whether they were working on a test program to run for long on softer tyres or were just not as fast as Mercedes will be properly confirmed once the season starts. But on the face of it, being three tenths of a second off the silver arrows on a set of tyres that were one level softer is a worrying stat for the Tifosi. But clearly there is a scope for improvement for Ferrari. Unlike most other teams on the grid, Ferrari has the resources available to be working on solutions in real time in order to implement them over the course of the second test that will commence on Tuesday, 6th March and run till 9th March at Barcelona.
Red Bull – 209 laps, fastest time 1:20.179 set on day 1 on mediums by Daniel Ricciardo
The third of the big three, trying their best to return to championship winning ways, started off the first test looking reliable and fast with Daniel Ricciardo setting a lap in the low 1min. 20sec. range on medium compound tyres. Efforts to go faster were thwarted by issues like a fuel leak and even a trip to the gravel by Max Verstappen on the final day. But the team definitely didn’t struggle like last year and claimed that they didn’t focus on performance for the first test given the less than ideal conditions that prevailed over the course of the test. Ricciardo was pretty vocal about that and said out loud that a West Asian venue like the Bahrain International Circuit should have been considered to allow teams to do productive running. Even with the freak dip in the weather, Barcelona is generally on the cold side in late February.
Force India – 165 laps, fastest time 1:21.841 set on day 2 on softs by Esteban Ocon
The team that surprised many with its consistent points finishes and pace and claimed fourth last year managed the lowest lap count of all the ten teams in the first test. Test and reserve driver Nikita Mazepin put the new VJM11 into the gravel early on the first day, setting the tone for a difficult four days of testing for the team. With Mazepin out of the way, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon got their hands on the car on the second and fourth day – third day being snowed out – and got to work ironing out the bugs in the new car, hoping for warmer and more predictable weather in the second test.
Williams Racing – 276 laps, fastest time 1:21.142 set on day 4 on softs by Lance Stroll
The other Mercedes customer team that Force India leap-frogged to fourth last year got their heads down to put their new FW41 through its paces. The team that was the first to reveal the look of the 2018 cars with the Halo cockpit protection device divided running between race drivers Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin and also their test and reserve driver Robert Kubica. Solid if unspectacular would be the best way to sum up Williams’ opening test. Although there was enough to suggest that Force India may be well advised to keep looking over their shoulders – at least over the course of the early races.
Renault – 273 laps, fastest time 1:20.547 set on day 1 on mediums by Nico Hulkenberg
The team that will be hoping to leap-frog the two Mercedes customer teams to fourth place this year were happy with how things went for them with one of the strongest driver line-ups in F1 behind the wheel. Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz were both encouraged by how much better the start of pre-season testing was for them as compared to a year ago, when the team was put on the back foot for most of 2017. A decent total lap count and an encouraging time on the medium compound tyre on the opening day had the team satisfied with the work done over the winter. Getting the better of Williams is most definitely conceivable, considering the driving talent behind the wheel. But there is one more test and a very long season left for us to know for sure.
Toro Rosso – 324 laps, fastest time 1:21.318 set on day 2 on softs by Gasly
Even if you are cynical enough to think Toro Rosso-Honda’s lap count was just for show, it is far better than what anyone could have expected given the engine in the back of the STR13. The much-maligned Japanese manufacturer has found a welcoming partner in Toro Rosso by the looks of it, which is the junior team of Red Bull’s F1 presence. Given a May deadline by current engine suppliers Renault, Red Bull Racing is treating Honda’s partnership with Toro Rosso as something of a demonstration. Red Bull has not yet decided on an engine partner for 2019, and if things go as well as they seem to be going with Toro Rosso and Honda, one can expect the Japanese firm to be back among the company of an elite F1 outfit. F1 newbie Pierre Gasly’s high lap counts were a regular feature over the test, which included 147 laps on the final day alone. Let’s see if letting go of Honda is a decision that McLaren will come to regret.
Haas – 185 laps, fastest time 1:20.317 set on day 4 on super softs by Magnussen
With not a very high lap-count and a lap set on the second softest dry weather tyre compound on the final day, Haas-Ferrari didn’t grab any eyeballs. The team was involved in a very close fight for sixth place in the constructors’ championship last year. Renault, Toro Rosso-Renault and Haas were covered by just ten points at the end of the season. The team also increased its points tally to 47 as compared to 29 in 2016. There is backing aplenty for the team from both Ferrari and Haas’ own business. So, there is scope for improvement by the time the second test commences.
McLaren – 260 laps, fastest time 1:19.854 set on day 4 on hyper softs by Stoffel Vandoorne
Fernando Alonso going off into the gravel after what was either a wheel-nut or a stub-axle failure at the start of the first day had many fearing the worst. And this time there was no scapegoat in the form of Honda to blame. But thankfully for F1 in general, and McLaren and Alonso fans in particular, the Spaniard completed 51 laps on the first day alone after a lengthy wait in the garage. The team finished the test strong as well with Stoffel Vandoorne, completing 110 laps on the final day before handing over to Alonso who put in another 51. That gave the team the highest lap count on the final day than the other nine teams. The pace may not have been much to write home about as Vandoorne’s effort coming on the softest dry weather tyre compound and still well behind Hamilton’s best effort. The team is yet to find a title sponsor and Honda is no longer there to cover the costs of power units. But as long as they make it to the finish of races and get a bucket load of points, the team will be satisfied.
Sauber – 283 laps, fastest time 1:22.721 set on day 2 on softs by Charles Leclerc
F1’s perennial midfielders have manufacturer backing for the first time since the 2009 season when BMW was last involved the sport. And along with Alfa Romeo branding, they also have one of F1’s most promising young talents in Charles Leclerc to partner Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson. The team had a lot to learn and took every opportunity they could find to run and ended up with the third-highest lap count among the teams. Although the poor weather would not have been welcome news for them, considering how much they had to learn about their new technical package. The team will get the current-spec Ferrari engine from Maranello to aid them, the Ferrari-backed Lecrlerc and the Alfa brand to make its presence felt on the grid. So far, the team looked unspectacular, which should worry them considering how hungry the other teams are to prevent them from climbing off the bottom spot of the championship table.
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