Testing Thoughts

Day One

The first of three days of testing was slightly unusual in that Mercedes actually had something of a setback. Gosh. In addition, sandy weather curbed the already limited testing time for everyone (and may recur for the race, although I don’t think we’ve had a sandstorm-affected event so far).

Gearbox woe afflicted Mercedes, particularly Bottas, and meant the Finn only got in six laps. Because Mercedes split their day between both drivers, unlike some other teams, this meant Hamilton was able to get in 42 laps, but Bottas had the fewest laps completed of anyone driving on day one of the test. Hamilton’s number of laps was comparable to most other drivers (most teams split the day rather than having just one driver partake) but he was only tenth fastest, likely highlighting how little testing times are worth. Whether the gearbox problem is a quick fix or persistent remains to be seen.

It was a lovely Friday for Verstappen, who was not only the fastest (for what that’s worth), but his Red Bull also completed the most laps. Perez has his first proper go in the car tomorrow.

Norris was the second quickest, followed by Ocon of the rebranded Alpine (formerly Renault). Stroll, of Aston Martin, was fourth fastest, with Ferrari’s Sainz fifth.

Other teams had day one problems, including Vettel stopping at the end of the pit lane, a Ferrari red flag, and hydraulic failure for Schumacher.

 

Day Two

Day two was, sadly, more remarkable for tragic off-track news than testing. Murray Walker, at the age of 97, passed away. An iconic sports commentator, he really made the excitement of F1 so much greater through his enthusiasm and occasional amusing Murrayisms (there’s nothing wrong with the car, except that it’s on fire). RIP Murray Walker.

On the track, Mercedes had a better day but it was interesting to see that they, Aston Martin and McLaren, all using the same engines, had the lowest number of laps completed. Probably nothing, but there we are.

Testing times are notoriously useless, but Bottas did post the fastest one on the second day. Behind him was Gasly, Stroll, Norris, and Giovinazzi, with Leclerc sixth fastest.

A couple of red flags came out, one for a Hamilton spin and another when Perez’s Red Bull began to undress itself on track. Bottas has said the car has a snappy rear end, which would tally with Hamilton’s spin.

Vettel had a gearbox problem which severely curtailed his running time and made him slowest on the timesheets. Hmm.

Alonso made his return to the track. Worth noting the titanium plates in his jaw, inserted during surgery following a pre-season collision with a car while riding his bike, will be removed after the season is over and shouldn’t cause him any problems racing.

 

Day Three

Verstappen was fastest on the final day of pre-season testing, which was nice as I had a little on Red Bull topping the timesheets with a free bet. Tiny win, but a little green is better than none.

Second quickest on the last day was AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, followed by Sainz, Raikkonen, Hamilton, and Russell. As I said before, not worth reading a lot into testing times. Mood music and reliability matter more.

Seems the Mercedes is a bit snap happy at the rear. Verstappen seems happy and the Ferrari power unit seems a different beast to the underwhelming engine of last year.

The Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri, and Ferrari teams managed over 400 laps each, with Red Bull, Williams, Haas, and Alpine managing 369 or more. McLaren, Aston Martin, and Mercedes (all powered by a Mercedes engine) had 304-327 laps on the board. Not terrible but all at the lower end.

Sandbagging’s always hard to tell. I do think the top team order will be Mercedes then Red Bull, possibly with Ferrari close behind. Nobody’s had an atrocious reliability record, which bodes well for the teams.

The first race is in a fortnight, in Bahrain.

 

Morris Dancer