For several months Formula 1 teams have had February 26 circled on the calendar: the date on which the nervous optimism will either be justified or destroyed, a dream built upon or quashed into a nightmare.
Formula 1 teams have been designing and constructing their new machines – for some an evolution, for others a revolution – and they will be put to the test across eight days of running at Spanish Grand Prix venue Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, before being flown to Australia for the first of 21 events. The leading teams are all eyeing titles, knowing more than one of them will be left disappointed; midfield squads are all aiming for a gain of a position – a mathematical impossibility – while those at the back wish to be replaced by one of their opponents. 2018 is upon us.
Mercedes is targeting a fifth straight double World Championship, having been seriously challenged in the V6 era for the first time last year. Both Ferrari and Red Bull believe dethroning the Silver Arrows is a realistic goal, setting up a potentially mouth-watering season-long three-team battle for overall honours. Mercedes struggled with a peaky car during the opening half of the year, while Ferrari proved more consistent, before falling short amid driver mistakes and reliability setbacks. Red Bull, meanwhile, has outlined its desire to avoid the slow starts it suffered in 2016 and 2017, ensuring it begins 2018 on the front foot, as opposed to playing catch-up. It has already run its RB14, putting it a week ahead of its usual schedule. In Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, Formula 1 has a golden generation of front-runners, all chasing their own slice of history, eager to emerge as the leading protagonist.
Force India, having reclaimed the peace from warring team-mates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, ostensibly faces a challenge to retain its place atop the midfield plinth. Renault has been on the rise since its return for 2016, bolstered by the recruitment of Carlos Sainz Jr. to partner Nico Hulkenberg, and has increased its headcount and developed its facilities, meaning the fruits of its labour should be increasingly on view in 2018. McLaren, meanwhile, is shorn of the Honda power units which acted as an anchor to its ambitions, and while its alliance with Renault is something of a marriage of convenience, it gives the team little excuse but to surge up the order, allowing a direct comparison with Red Bull, in turn triggering a fascinating political sub-plot as the teams jostle for position. In Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren also has a potent driver pairing ready to make up for lost years. Honda, though, has not been booted into Formula 1’s abyss, rather transported through Europe to Faenza. Toro Rosso, shunted around like an unwanted plus one in recent years, finally has major manufacturer support, and two eager drivers, having spent much of 2017 as Renault’s leftovers. There are two widely differing viewpoints heading into 2018. There is the perspective that Honda has learned from three years with McLaren, is continuing with the engine concept which it felt had substantial potential – and developed competently – after the initial early 2017 disaster, and can benefit from a more equal partnership. Then there is the flipside that Toro Rosso is fundamentally a midfield team – having been seventh for four successive seasons – while Honda has still been unable to grasp the power unit requirements so far, so what’s to say year four will be better? The team also has the least experienced line-up on the grid, in F1 terms, albeit with the caveat that Pierre Gasly is well-versed with both Italian and Japanese teams (through his junior exploits) and Brendon Hartley is a rapid driver with a mountain of sportscar trophies and reams of experience (especially with a major manufacturer). That the scope for where Toro Rosso-Honda will place is intriguing and alarming in equal measure, as exciting as it is daunting. There will be long faces at Toro Rosso if it feels it is repeating McLaren’s dismal 2015 and 2017 pre-seasons, and equally pained expressions at McLaren if the STR13 emerges as a fast and reliable package in the Catalan countryside.
Williams, meanwhile, heads into pre-season with two young and inexperienced drivers in the form of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, and will also hand track time to reserve/development driver Robert Kubica, as the Pole continues in his ambition to make a full-scale return. Haas, in year three, carries on with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, while Sauber, newly affiliated with Alfa Romeo, is realistically targeting a return to the midfield, with 2018 the first full year in which the mid-2016 takeover, and subsequent changes, can bear full fruit. Sauber has also been boosted by recruiting highly-rated young gun and reigning F2 champion Charles Leclerc to its line-up, partnering incumbent Marcus Ericsson. From the W09 through to the C37, there is intrigue up and down the field.
There have been very few regulation changes over the winter – compared to 12 months ago – but there have still been some important tweaks, both visually and mechanically. The biggest is the head protection device known as the halo, which has been mandated after two years of testing and research, with other mooted options not yet deemed viable. Aside from the strikingly aesthetic changes, which teams have gone some way to disguising with liveries, the three-pronged device adds more weight to the car, and also upsets the air flow. Teams have regularly trialled the halo across 2016/17, though this is the first time the system has been integrated into the actual design, rather than briefly lumped onto a car. As a result, the minimum weight has been upped six kilos to 734kg, though the actual system weighs more than the allocated increase, leaving teams with less ballast to play with, and potentially disadvantaging taller drivers. T-wings have been outlawed, with the shark fins reduced in size, despite the desire from some teams to retain the aerodynamic plane which they themselves had previously voted to scrap for 2018. Oil burning, which became a controversial topic in the Mercedes/Ferrari battle through 2017, has been clamped down upon, while the permitted number of power unit components per driver has been reduced to a mixture of two and three, down from four, though pre-season testing does not cover this allocation. One key change that will be felt at testing, however, is Pirelli’s refined compound range. Having accepted it took too conservative an approach for 2017, Pirelli has moved one step softer with its entire range, and has also introduced a new-for-2018 pink-banded Hypersoft tyre, along with a back-up Superhard option. Teams first trialled the expanded range last November in Abu Dhabi, with the changes well-received, and this week presents an opportunity to get a better handle on the tweaked compounds.
Located on the outskirts of Barcelona, the circuit is regarded as the ideal winter testing venue due to its combination of low, medium and high speed corners, typically fine winter weather – last year it crept into the low 20s, although this week's forecast is sketchy – relative proximity to team factories (ensuring swift transportation of new parts), while the familiarity drivers have with the layout removes another factor from a potential list of unknowns. However, one aspect which has been altered is the surface itself. Heightened by complaints from MotoGP riders, the entire track has been resurfaced since last year’s Spanish Grand Prix, meaning direct year-on-year comparisons will be trickier to make, throwing up one variable that could prove slightly deceptive as the circuit evolves across the opening couple of days.
Barcelona, though, remains one of the best available circuits for testing. If a car is well-balanced at Barcelona, chances are that this will be reflected at other circuits. The long-radius Turn 3 will test a car’s downforce and its application – whether a driver is confident in his package – as will the uphill right-hander at Turn 9, a corner which requires trust and commitment that the front of the car will stick, with the rear following suit. Turns 1 and 10 will test the car’s braking ability, while the quick-direction changes through Turns 1/2, Turns 7/8 and Turns 11/12 will highlight any cumbersome machinery. The final sector chicane may be an awkward blight but the high kerbs need to be ridden well, while its exit is a traction-hungry zone that impacts on speed all the way to Turn 1. It is also a physically-demanding track for drivers, allowing them to evaluate their fitness after the winter break, as they face the prospect of racking up potentially 150 laps a day.
All 10 Formula 1 teams will be in action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the two tests divided up into two lots of four days of running, with a four-day break between the action.
The opening test begins today (Monday February 26) and runs through to Thursday (March 1), with the second test starting next Tuesday (March 6) and concluding on Friday (March 9), after which there is fewer than two weeks until the opening practice session in Australia.
Each team is permitted to run just a single car across the course of the tests, with most splitting duties fifty-fifty between drivers, meaning each racer is in line to receive four days of track time across the two tests. The track will open at 09:00 local time (GMT +1) each day, and close at 18:00, with a one-hour lunch break between 13:00 and 14:00.
Drivers are permitted to use any of Pirelli’s seven dry-tyre compounds from their respective allocations, while the Intermediate and Wet tyres will also be available, should inclement weather strike the venue.
Making definitive conclusions from testing is always a challenge, but delve beneath the headline times and analyse race simulations, tyres, body language of both driver and car, and team atmosphere, and you can make a rounded judgment. Last year, the predictions in mid-March proved startlingly accurate. Pre-season testing is not broadcast live on TV but Motorsport Week will be present at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya across all eight days of running to bring you the latest from a busy and intriguing period for the Formula 1 paddock.
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