Fears the swathe of new regulations and entirely new engines might be problematic on their first outing proved unfounded, after Formula One’s first pre-season test concluded in Barcelona on Friday. Mercedes put in an almost bulletproof performance in distance and reliability while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton grabbed the quickest lap of the week.
Held behind closed doors at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, it is believed at least partly to minimise attention on the potential negative impressions of the new formula that might be formed by new engines going bang and cars struggling on track, as happened when turbo-hybrid engines were introduced in 2012, the running was overwhelmingly positive given the challenge of the biggest regulation change of the modern era.
The majority of teams put in decent mileage and with no apparent major drama for the engine manufacturers. Indeed Red Bull, building their own units for the first time, will consider their strong and consistent running a real fillip. Ferrari demonstrated an impressive number of laps. New engine manufacturer and team entrant Audi had some difficulties and will be disappointed given they had prioritised reliability over pace in these opening stages, while Honda powering the Aston Martin which ran for only the best part of a day will need more work in the forthcoming tests.
While lap times are entirely irrelevant at this stage, if one team were on top after Barcelona it was Mercedes. The team opened with an enormously strong show, completing a fearsome number of laps with almost metronomic running that their trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, said had “more or less ticked all our objectives”.
They finished 500 laps, a distance of 2,328.5km, clear of all their rivals and notably almost as much as any distance achieved by any team in recent tests when the engines were already well proven and the regulations were stable. A remarkable achievement on its first outing and one which in terms of reliability of a new engine will have been more than the team had hoped for and not a little ominous for their rivals.
Nonetheless, the silver arrows were not alone in enjoying their first run-out. Ferrari will be buoyed by their power unit as will Red Bull, while the defending drivers and constructors’ champions, McLaren, using the Mercedes engines, completed 291 laps. The world champion, Lando Norris, was happy with that. “We’ve identified opportunities and areas to improve, and we’re excited to see what we can do back in Woking as we prepare for Bahrain,” he said.
Ferrari’s Hamilton set the fastest pace of the week with 1min 16.348sec, going out at the death on Friday for a dash on the softest rubber, a morale booster for the team who struggled so much last season. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, reflected a sense of optimism about the new regulations which had been a cause of concern among some drivers.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement, not only in Ferrari but I think around the whole paddock,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for Formula One.”
Outright pace was not the purpose of running in Spain nor were teams looking for it. Instead they focused on putting in the miles and assessing how their new models fared under the new regulations.
Mercedes’ George Russell did pronounce it a “very positive test”, which could be considered high praise given the enormous changes wrought on the cars this season. However, he noted that the real challenge lay ahead at the next two tests in Bahrain as the teams look to start pushing the limits and give an indication of who might have an edge at the sharp end.
