The Formula 1 fraternity converged in Barcelona last week for the second of the three pre-season tests before the season-opener in Australia.
With fairly stable regulations and four days of mileage under their belt, teams seemed to be in far better shape than they were last year. All teams bar McLaren managed over 1000 km worth of mileage with a handful of them also trying Pirelli’s supersoft compounds(which have undergone structural changes).
Mercedes, unsurprisingly, led the mileage chart with race drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as well as new test recruit Pascal Wehrlein racking 446 laps over the course of four days. The Brackley based outfit never ventured on the two of the softest compounds in an attempt to disguise from their true pace.
However, on the final day, Rosberg set a lap time on medium tyres that was just two tenths shy of Grosjean’s chart topping effort on super soft compounds. With a 2 second difference between two tyre choices, the potential of the W06 became evident.
After their Jerez woes, Red Bull enjoyed a far better Barcelona test with 418 laps in total and fourth fastest overall time(set on the soft compound). Daniel Ricciardo insisted that the lion’s share of Renault’s problems that plagued them in the first test have now been solved, although some fine tuning is still required.
Their juniour team Toro Rosso built on its early promise and was able to successfully complete race simulations. 17 year old Max Verstappen returned from Barcelona with the highest individual lap total while teammate Carlos Sainz Jr also complemented his efforts with a 100 lap run on day 2.
After their 2014 renaissance, Williams face an uphill challenge to consolidate its position and make gradual improvements as they chase their first race victory since 2012. And the team seemed to have continued its policy of staying anonymous in testing by neither setting headline grabbing lap times or pounding around the track to catch the eye.
Ferrari have clearly made a step forward from last year’s car, as a comparison of S15-T’s laptimes with that of its predecessor would indicate. However, the question that continues to loom is whether these improvements are good enough to elevate them to the sharp end of the grid again.
Lotus insist that they aren’t chasing performance despite topping the test on three of the four days on super soft compounds. The feeling within the drivers is that the E23 is within their liking and might be good enough to finish on the rostrum more than once this season.
Sauber ran mostly trouble-free in testing with Marcus Ericsson's gearbox issue on day three being the only exception.
Silverstone based Force India which brought their 2014 car at this test focused its efforts solely on eking out the best from new Pirelli tyres. The team only has four day to put its repeatedly delayed 2015 challenger to test bed before the first race of the season.
And finally, McLaren-Honda's troubles continued from one Spanish city to another with recurring issues curtailing its running on all four days. Worst of all was Fernando Alonso’s horrible accident on the final day, that required him to be airlifted to hospital for health checks. There remains a shadow of doubt over his participation in the final pre-season test.
However, the team and its engine partner remain confident about the whole package, despite admitting that they are ‘50% behind schedule’. The feeling within both companies is that once the issues are sorted out, the package would be competitive enough. Red Bull-Renault’s 2014 troubles and their subsequent comeback will certainly provide a ray of hope.
Overall results(top 1)
Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:24.067, Supersofts
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:24.321, Mediums
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:24.348, Supersofts
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:24.574, Softs
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:24.584, Softs
Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:24.672, Softs
Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:24.702, Supersofts
Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:24.739, Supersofts
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:24.923, Mediums
Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:24.941, Softs
Image credit: McLaren
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