Mercedes Motorsport boss, Norbert Haug has downplayed the pace set by Mark Webber in the Red Bull RB6 in this mornings test at Barcelona. The Australian set the quickest time of the morning, a 1:21.487, over a second quicker than his nearest rival.
Haug however was sceptical about how much fuel the car was carrying.
“If they did that time with 150 kilos [of fuel oboard] then they were quick,” he said. “But this time is not the benchmark. It’s early days, and I would not say that any team has made any serious qualifying efforts so far.”
It’s expected the test in Barcelona will begin to shed some light on who is really quick, and who isn’t quite so quick.
“Later in the test I would think we will see it – if the weather stays dry then I think we can have a feeling of what’s going on.”
Haug admitted the new rules, which have seen the ban on re-fuelling make it difficult draw conclusions from testing, but also adds an element of surprise and excitement.
“It’s just impossible to judge – it’s guesswork,” he said. “If you have a 37-lap run for example, then you have a minimum fuel load – maybe 74 kilos. But that doesn’t tell you the whole story because one guy could do the same run with 160.
“A difference of around 80 kilos could mean about three seconds per lap, but that’s assuming the heavier guy can make the car work when they take the fuel out.
“With one set-up you have to deliver a low-fuel run and an absolutely maximum fuel run. That’s a wide range, and it’s very different to anything we’ve ever had in Formula 1.
“So you will probably find a car that is at the top of the times on low fuel, but is not so quick in race trim. That will make things pretty exciting.”
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