Mercedes leads again, Red Bull bypasses Ferrari – F-1 pre-season test results

The Sport Arena sums up the results of the pre-season testing of Formula 1 in Barcelona, ​​which ended on Friday.

F1’s first test day in Barcelona (photo)

Mercedes – in front, followed by Red Bull?

As we could see last year, the pre-season tests do not give any exact answers. Ferrari then dominated and showed the best performance of the circle, but the Mercedes still turned out to be stronger. A similar situation exists now.

According to the test results, Sebastian Vettel was the fastest, and his teammate in the Scuderia Kimi Raikkonen showed the second time. At the same time, Sky Sports experts argue that not everything is so optimistic for the Italian team. If we take into account the simulation of the race and the comparison of the lap times of the three main contenders for the title in the long run, the Mercedes was about a second faster than Red Bull and Ferrari.

“So far everything is going to the fact that in Australia Mercedes and Red Bull will be on an equal footing. Ferrari may be a little behind. But the leaders are very close,” says Niki Lauda, ​​one of the leaders of Mercedes.

The German team refuses such dominance, and the Bulls claim that they are behind Mercedes, but definitely not by a second. According to Vettel’s comments, one can understand that the situation for Ferrari is far from ideal, but at least everything is in order with the reliability of the equipment.

Indeed, all three top teams did not have any technical problems at all and the tests went smoothly. The same Red Bull last year was clearly lagging behind in the development of the car and did not catch up with competitors during the season. Now, it is possible that the Bulls will indeed become the second force after Mercedes.

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The German team did not chase records and did not use the new and fastest hypersoft tires at all, on which Vettel showed his best time. The key was the simulation of the race on medium-soft tires, and it was there that the gigantic advantage of Mercedes was discovered, as Sky Sports journalists have been talking about in recent days.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner gives the advantage to Mercedes, but notes that in terms of chassis and aerodynamics, the three main contenders for the title are on the same level, but the engine remains the trump card of Mercedes, which continues to “take out” the team to the lead. Horner believes that the German engineers really broke through the 1000 horsepower mark in the winter and broke away from the competition again.

In two weeks in Australia, fans will be able to better understand the alignment of forces, but so far everything is going to the point that nothing will change in terms of the leader – Mercedes is again and again ahead of the rest.

McLaren problems, Toro Rosso reliability

McLaren clearly came to the tests in an optimistic mood. The team said goodbye to Honda engines, and the transition to Renault engines was supposed to get rid of reliability problems. But he didn’t deliver. Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandorn were regularly forced to get into the pits on foot, while the car was loaded onto a tow truck at that time. Management says these are all minor breakdowns, and experts largely agree.

In the end, the same Renault engines are used by two more teams and there were no difficulties. There are probably problems with the layout of McLaren cars with new engines. The question is, will the team have time to deal with these problems before the start of the season?

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Apparently, the car has the speed to be among the middle peasants of the championship, but without reliability, all this will not make sense. Let’s see what Alonso and Vandorn will show in Australia.

“The alignment of forces is difficult to understand. Various factors influence – tires, fuel loading of the car, engine settings – everything is more complicated than it was before. Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari will still struggle ahead. Haas and Renault are progressing well.”

“I think McLaren has everything to be average,” said the head of the British team, Eric Bouillet.

But Toro Rosso, on the contrary, showed their best side. The management risked switching to Honda engines, which never let the Italian team down during the eight test days. It is interesting to know Alonso’s opinion on this matter.

Pilots junior Bulls Pierre Gasly and Brandon Hartley drove a significant number of circles and left a positive impression. Many argue that it is Toro Rosso that can become the best among the middle teams. At least Force India and Williams, who took 4-5 places last season, were not impressed during the tests. The cars of these teams did without serious breakdowns, but the pilots failed to show a serious lap time.

This is especially true of Williams, where the reserve rider Robert Kubica was faster than Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin. In general, in terms of the middle peasants, much remains secret, and we will learn more only at the end of the stage in Australia.

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The Renault factory team showed itself well, which is gradually progressing and, perhaps, this season will fight for the top 4 and even for the podium in individual races. For Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz, the tests passed without any visible problems, and the reliable engine and the resources of the factory team should help the French take another step towards the leaders of the championship.

A pleasant opening of the season could be Haas. It is unlikely that the team is ready to fight Renault or Toro Rosso, but the Americans are quite capable of being the fifth force of the season. Even with Ferrari’s problems, Haas had reliable and even fast test sessions. On some days, Roman Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were in the top 3 in terms of speed.

Source: Sportarena

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