Formula One: What three days of pre-season testing proves

Moving on as Toto Wolff and Christian Horner meet and make up? Photo / Supplied

Three days of pre-season testing has taken place in Barcelona, and the results do not exactly provide a conclusive guide to what might happen this season, although the usual "suspects" were at the top of the timesheets.

Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, who some publications suggested might retire in protest at being "robbed" as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff put it, in last year's championship, set the quickest time.

His new teammate, George Russell, set the second-fastest time, but the general consensus is this doesn't necessarily mean Mercedes has the fastest car because teams don't have to disclose fuel loads, and run different testing programmes.

Lando Norris in the McLaren had set the fastest time on the first day and Charles Leclerc was fastest for Ferrari on day two, before the Mercedes topped the times on day three. Russell says at that time he thought Ferrari and McLaren were the real deal this season, when asked if Mercedes were ahead.

"Certainly not ahead, pretty sure of that," Russell said. "We all know we are on different programmes, but we definitely know from the average of all the different cars we are behind them at the moment."

"So let's wait and see, the championship isn't won in Barcelona winter testing, but it has certainly been an intriguing two days."

After Mercedes topped the times on day three, Hamilton downplayed the result. "Its been an interesting few days, not been the easiest or the most smooth running, definitely had some obstacles to overcome," he said.

"But we have got through as much ... of course we'd always want more laps, but I'm happy with today, I think I almost got a hundred laps in today, so for a half–day running, that's not too bad."

Asked if this meant Mercedes could be ahead of the rest, Hamilton was adamant that wasn't the case. "You never do on the first week, never do," he said.

"We have no idea where everyone is."

Russell was just 0.095s slower than Hamilton - just a blink of the eye. Red Bull boss Christian Horner thinks that because Russell's time was so close to Hamilton's best, he could prove a headache for the seven-time champion.

"Lewis is going to be massively motivated this season," Horner suggests. "But he's going to have more competition internally because he's got a hungry competitive young teammate who is going to be snapping at his ankles. Life is not going to be getting easier for him, that's for sure."

"George is going to be a big factor this year. He has been blistering quick in all the junior categories, he's one of the standout talents and dealing with his drivers will give Toto [Wolff] a headache this year."

Perhaps Horner might need to look in the corner of his own garage, given Sergio Perez was two-hundredths of a second quicker than his Red Bull teammate, new world champion Max Verstappen. But nobody seriously expects Perez to be a threat to

Verstappen, as he was consistently slower last year, albeit clearly playing the role expected of a No.2 driver. Verstappen was asked if he was worried as to who was really on top after the Barcelona testing.

"I don't know. I don't really pay attention to the lap times, we'll see in Q3 in Bahrain," he said, referring to the first race of the season that begins in Bahrain on March 20.

"I'm happy with the balance, but I mean Bahrain will be completely different and heading into race one the cars will be completely different as well."

"So for me, I just focus on doing a lot of laps and try to nail down every aspect of the car."

Verstappen has also commented on FIA race director Michal Masi losing his job for his last-lap decision in Abu Dhabi in regard to un-lapped cars that enabled Verstappen to overtake Hamilton and win the driver's title.

"For me, it's really unfair what's happened to Michael because he has really been thrown under the bus," Verstappen stated. "Of course, people talk a lot about what was decided in Abu Dhabi, but can you imagine a referee in whatever sport has a coach or equivalent screaming in his ear all the time, yellow card, red card, no foul ... it's impossible to make a decision."

"For those who sacked him to allow that in the first place is, for me, unacceptable and I found it really incredible."

Of course the persons screaming in Masi's ear on the team to race director radio, a practice now banned, were Wolff and Horner respectively. The differences between the two rivals escalated as the pressure of last year's championship intensified, and both said some fairly unsavoury things about each other. But the two adversaries shook hands openly in the F1 paddock in Barcelona, signifying they have perhaps moved on and will regain the mutual respect they once had.

"There's been so much talk about Abu Dhabi that it came to a point that's really damaging for all of us stakeholders of f1, and we've closed the chapter and moved on," Wolff said.

Going back to Hamilton, he also commented on the prospects of Ferrari, who have produced a stunning-looking car to match the competitive times achieved in testing so far.

"We could assume that Ferrari maybe didn't develop their 2021 car very much and put everything into this year's car," Hamilton surmised.

"This could mean they could be several months ahead of the rest of the teams, but we have to wait and see."

Fernando Alonso, who will have a second season with Alpine after finishing 10th in last year's championship, believes the Barcelona test indicates Ferrari could be the car to beat. "Ferrari seems to have the fastest car, which is surely a surprise," Alonso told TVE.

"For Carlos [Sainz] it's great news and for Spain in general. Mercedes has also turned out fast," he added.

Alonso's test on the third day came to a premature end after 12 laps when a seal leak in the hydraulics caused a fire in the car. Despite that, Alonso remains optimistic.

"We'll see where we are, I think we are in good shape to go to Bahrain now," he added.

"The new cars are difficult to drive but they are fun, especially at high speed they feel great, and there are still a few days left to maximise the potential."

Two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen thinks Alonso can win a race this year.

"We know his motivation, his fitness, his love of motorsport and I can see him winning," he noted.

"He is not in Formula One just to be in it, he wants to win and I am very confident. I see him winning in Formula One sooner or later."

One of the aims of the new regulations has been to make it easier to follow another car, but have they achieved that?

"I've had the opportunity to follow a car for a couple of corners, an Alfa Romeo and another one, and honestly I felt it was a bit easier than last year," Alonso says.

The new buzzword in F1 is "porpoising", a reference to the unusual behaviour of the 2022 cars when travelling at top speed, they were observed to be mimicking the up-and-down movement similar to a porpoise. It is reported McLaren has found a way to stop the porpoising by stopping the floor from fluttering with a slot trick.

"If McLaren have indeed found the solution to the problem with their slot trick, all teams will show up in Bahrain with it," Auto Motor und Sport reported.

"Even in times of budget caps, that's easy to copy."

But Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey warns that while McLaren may have found a solution to the movement problem, it may not be resolved.

"It's not hard to turn off the bouncing," Newey suggests. "But it's hard to not lose lap time in the process. It was there in the first ground–effect era 40 years ago. It's innate to this aerodynamic principle."

The official three-day F1 test begins in Bahrain on March 10, with the grand prix to follow a week later. By the end of that three-day test we should have a much better idea of who has the best car and package for the new ground-effect era.

What we know so far is that it could be close between the usual suspects, Mercedes and Red Bull, with Ferrari, McLaren and even Alpha Tauri, also in the mix. If that happens, the FIA can pat itself on the back and say the mission to create a more even playing field has been achieved.