Formula 1 reconvened after its winter break at favoured test venue Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya but any aspirations that the new season would feel like the start of spring were soon quashed. Most of the paddock was greeted by warm and sunny conditions on Sunday but by the time the new working week rolled around, the unseasonably cold band of air which had battered its way around most of Western Europe reached the Catalan countryside.
Temperatures didn’t climb into double digits on Monday, as rain impacted the afternoon session, while bitterly cold air on Tuesday left it barely above freezing, causing teams to limit running, with tyres out of their working range. Tyres are simply not designed to operate in such conditions, and drivers spent several laps getting them even close to their optimum temperature range, with the process needing to be re-commenced if they backed off even slightly. “If people were around and saw my first lap on used tyres I look like a clown and look like I’ve never driven any car, not even an F1 car, in my entire life,” joked Robert Kubica.
Brake drums were modified in order to enhance the heating process, and even then Haas’ Kevin Magnussen simply skated through the gravel on a slow out lap. And then, as the East wind blew, the snow arrived, coating the region in a scene more reminiscent of a Christmas card than the final day of February. The track itself remained snow-free, but the conditions prompted a three-hour delay, after which the near-freezing weather, combined with heavy rain, left teams reluctant to run. Just 17 laps were completed, 11 of them by Fernando Alonso, and only two of them timed efforts, a minute off dry-weather pace, as five teams remained in the garage.
Thursday, at least, provided some relief, but even then the previously miserable conditions meant that only five of the nine test hours took place in the dry. Speculation mounted that the disruption would result in an extra test day taking place on Friday, or bolted onto the start of test two, but teams – two of which, Williams and Ferrari, had a filming day between tests – failed to unanimously agree to any changes, and that was that.
Naturally, the wintry conditions meant teams and drivers spent much of the time shrugging, expressing frustration, and trying to work on what they could, such as grid simulations, component checks, and making sure the coffee machine worked. Journalists, meanwhile, battled with a brief loss of power and an afternoon-long internet outage, while the absence of track action meant one colleague went into great lengths about the scene he discovered in the media centre toilet, a description as repulsively colourful as it is unprintable.
When the action did get going, the resurfacing undertaken of the entire track meant that, even where possible, year-on-year comparisons over pace were dismissed by some drivers. However, removing the outliers nonetheless gives a (slightly hazy) picture of the pecking order, albeit perhaps influenced by our expectations and prejudgments. On the little evidence provided, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull led the way, followed by Renault, with a gaggle of midfield cars rounded out by Sauber, with no real standout story (for that, read ‘disaster’) other than the inclement weather.
World Champions Mercedes intended to split morning and afternoon sessions between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, but the Briton opted out of Tuesday’s action in order to maximise track time for the W09 – in effect saving the team the need to switch around the required items for each driver. Hamilton, therefore, only had Thursday afternoon as his representative time in the W09, but was optimistic over the car’s performance. The ‘ominous’ moniker has regularly been applied to Mercedes during pre-season testing in past years and while several extenuating circumstances led Hamilton to dismiss it, his time of 1:19.333 on Medium tyres – set several laps into his run – made others sit up and take note. Not that anyone was expecting anything less.
“Collectively I’ve done less than a day in the car,” said Hamilton, whose lap was the quickest of the week. “My mindset is not really like this is the start to getting the next championship – although it is – it’s really just about learning as much as we can and being as consistent and as diligent as you can through these days in the driving laps you do get. Of course this is all building blocks for a title fight. But we have no idea where people are. It looks like Red Bull is quite quick, looks like the Ferrari is quite quick but no-one really knows.”
Ferrari, as with Mercedes, was much as expected. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen lapped the track, with Vettel quickest on Tuesday, and mumbled that it was too early to make anything resembling a prediction. “Overall it's been a difficult week with cool temperatures, but I think it affected everybody,” said Vettel during his brief media scrum. “Limited answers. Still a lot of questions that we carry into next week.” Vettel expressed encouragement over Ferrari’s mileage, given the conditions, though proclaimed Mercedes as favourites, again, as expected.
Red Bull launched its car a week earlier than usual in a bid to kick off on the right foot, having previously made slow starts, but completed more mileage than only Haas and Force India, amid a couple of reliability glitches. The pace, though, was there, with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen both in the 1:20s, the latter clocking his best time midway through a relatively long run, meaning that, fuel corrected, the RB14 has potential. The bigger question is whether Renault’s engine can deliver the performance to match Mercedes and Ferrari, having spent the off-season focusing on reliability after its late 2017 dramas. Renault insists that reliability gains will have a positive knock-on effect on performance, but having already been adrift of its rivals, that’s not good news for the initial phase of the season. Nonetheless, Ricciardo and Verstappen were both ebullient over the RB14, a marked contrast compared to last season’s so-so attitude – however, as per each team, week two will provide more conclusions.
Tyre compounds are one thing, stint lengths another, fuel loads yet another factor, not to mention the circuit in question. Does Mercedes’ pace on Mediums at a cold Barcelona mean it will have fixed its problems at running Ultrasofts at a hot Monaco? We have no idea.
Behind the leading trio, Renault stood out. Reliability glitches hampered Renault’s early running in 2017 but 12 months on both Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr. racked up the miles and posted competitive times. Hulkenberg and Sainz Jr. (aside from the weather fiasco) cut cheery figures, and the R.S.18 looked to be a competitive package, with further updates to come. Considering Renault’s year-on-year progress across 2016/17, its 2020 title goal and the drivers at its disposal, allied to the ongoing expansion of its workforce, and fourth place already appears a realistic ambition.
McLaren, meanwhile, presented a mixed bag. Having ditched Honda for Renault, McLaren has allowed itself to be directly compared to two competitive rivals, though it is a situation it is ready to embrace, as it attempts to return to the thick of the action. But the first week was average. Due to the weather conditions, McLaren opted to run most of its programme on Hyper and Supersoft tyres, somewhat distorting the picture. On track, Fernando Alonso had a few minor corrections into Turn 10, and traction was so-so, but as per the usual caveat with testing, fuel loads, run plans and engine maps remain unknown. There were also reliability setbacks, with a wheel nut issue pitching Alonso into the gravel early on Monday while an exhaust clip failure – from a £2 part – burnt a few wires, including a brake wire, and Stoffel Vandoorne was parked as a precaution while the team assessed the situation. However, McLaren stressed they were minor glitches with large consequences, before making amends with a substantial lap tally on the final day. Considering it is still early days with Renault, and the MCL33 is awaiting aero upgrades, this was a competent start. Running around and setting blistering lap times was not the aim – ensuring the rear end of the car had been married with Renault’s power unit was the priority.
McLaren’s ex-engine partner, meanwhile, enjoyed a productive week, as Toro Rosso-Honda topped the mileage charts, with the Japanese power units running reliably. There was a spring in the step of Toro Rosso personnel for much of the week, boosted by the potential of a works deal, having been previously shunted around as a customer. The 320 laps completed by the STR13, mainly by Pierre Gasly, came as a surprise to many but not to Toro Rosso, with Honda’s power unit ostensibly a refinement and improvement of its 2017 product. As with 2016, Honda is entering year two of its power unit concept. Consequently, there is still performance to be found, while Toro Rosso has already spoken of its ideas for greater collaboration in the 2019 build, the inference being that the 2018 car is something of a prototype. Nevertheless, that STR-Honda ran reliability, and with respectable pace, was hugely encouraging and though there is no prior baggage – meaning we are in the honeymoon phase – both sides have been lifted by the team work and levels of communication. Honda has not made stunning gains to vault perennial midfielder Toro Rosso into a Brawn GP-esque fairytale, nor will it be chuntering along at the back with bits exploding at every corner.
Over at Williams, Lance Stroll, Sergey Sirotkin and Robert Kubica took turns to sample the FW41, and understandably the greatest focus was on the Pole’s exploits. Kubica stressed that comparing his lap time to that set be Sirotkin – for the development driver was faster – was a fruitless expedition, and clarified that he will be assessed on how he performs his duties, rather than on pure pace. Nonetheless, the trio all demonstrated midfield pace, but Williams’ prospects will rest on how well it can get a handle on its FW41 – a revolution, rather than the evolutionary tactic adopted by many – whether youngsters Stroll and Sirotkin can extract its potential, and whether it has the fortitude/resources to fend off the expected surges from Renault and McLaren.
Both Haas and Force India had low-key tests; Force India only launched its car on the opening morning and was the sole team not to complete a shakedown, meaning it began slightly on the back foot. Nonetheless, lacking the resources to compete with well-financed squads pushes Force India to maximise what it can perfect, and there is little reason to doubt the VJM11 will be a midfield contender. The team has had similarly middling tests in previous years and come out fighting. Haas, meanwhile, was tidy yet unremarkable.
At the back was Sauber, with its elegant but bold C37 requiring some work as the team plots its return to the midfield gaggle. Bolting on Ferrari’s current-year power unit has not eradicated its deficit.
The other major talking point, other than the weather, was the halo, as it made its formal introduction after two years of testing and discussions. Aesthetically it still stomach-churning, though some teams have at least attempted to either incorporate it into their colour schemes or try and hide it the best they can. If it saves a life it will rightly be hailed as a necessity, though surely a more elegant solution can be found for the next decade. Opinion is still split on the halo – Magnussen conveyed his disdain for the device – and there are a few aspects which could be refined. Entry and exit for drivers now requires a little more in the way of acrobatics, while Gasly tore his race suit in such a movement, only to play down his criticisms the next day. Only the central pillar remains something of a problem for drivers (seeing the starting lights is not an issue), though most revealed that they quickly got used to its presence.
Engineers will pore over what data they gathered and ostensibly cram more box-ticking exercises into the second four-day gathering at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which runs from Tuesday to Friday.
Discussion about this post