It has been an epic couple of days. The Barcelona F1 testing session is in full force and teams, as well as drivers, are showing what they can do with the 2017 cars. There have been a lot of regulatory changes this season, so the testing session was interesting to follow.
We’ve seen some interesting results, too. As always, Barcelona testing results are not to be taken without a grain of salt. Teams and drivers usually hold back a little bit so they don’t show all of their cards at once. Can we get a clearer look of the 2017 season based on the results we’ve seen so far? We can certainly try!
Mercedes Still the Team to Chase
There is no doubt that Mercedes GP is still the team to chase. Their unconventional T-wing design is looking very good, especially if you look at the times banked by both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. Both Bottas and Hamilton set good times, with Hamilton achieving the fastest time on the first day.
The two drivers shared driving time and got used to the new car relatively quickly. While Bottas looked like he was still adapting to the Merc, Hamilton appeared to be right at home with few problems to worry about.
Mercedes came out on top with a 0.1 second lead to capitalize on. It was a firm lead nonetheless and the team appeared to be aiming for an even bigger lead with the changes on the 2nd day. It was as if they refuse to accept anything less; it reminds me of how Ireland won the 2015 6 Nations match against Scotland.
Troubles for McLaren
On the other hand, we have McLaren. After a rough season last year, a lot of people are hoping to see the team bounce back during this year’s Barcelona testing session. Unfortunately, we still saw a lot of problems haunting the two McLaren drivers.
A power unit had to be changed after it failed to perform as expected. The team also suffered from various other problems, including oil systems issues and another power unit issue on the 2nd day. Fernando Alonso could only bank 29 laps in total and failed to secure a good time during the testing sessions.
Stoffel Vandoorne, the team’s second driver, also failed to secure a good time. It is still unclear whether McLaren can make the necessary improvement to remain competitive in 2017.
The Rest of the Field
Both Red Bull and Ferrari showed promising results. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was only a fraction of a second behind Hamilton when he scored his best time during the first day testing session. Mercedes then widened the gap to a whopping two seconds, but that was because they were testing the Super Soft tyres.
The midfield was also very interesting. We can expect a very competitive season in 2017, especially with teams such as Force India and Williams now more competitive than ever. Some may even challenge the leaders along the way, which means we have a very exciting 2017 season on our hands.
