The first week of Formula 1 2018 pre-season testing is at a close and while it delivered a number of fascinating plot points, that was in spite of the weather making its own headlines.
F1 failed to dodge the ‘Beast from the East,’ as Barcelona was hit by bitter temperatures, culminating in heavy snow ahead of the third day. It made for a picturesque outlook, but the conditions condemned the teams to a day in their garages. Snowmen were built and run plans for Thursday’s final session were reviewed.
When cars were on track, performance evaluation was a huge challenge across the entire week. With track temperatures often not far above freezing, slick tyres were difficult to fire up leading to some drivers even using intermediates on a dry track in extreme occasions.
Timesheets can often be misleading in testing, but this week’s timesheets are even more fickle than usual. However, the opening week of pre-season testing has still offered up some intriguing storylines as early trends have begun to emerge.
As has been the case in each and every year of the V6 hybrid era, Mercedes has had a positive first week. The team did not record the herculean lap total that it managed in 2017 – this time posting 306 laps compared with 558 last year – but Lewis Hamilton in particular delivered quality over quantity.
His timesheet topping 1m19.333s on the final day was set on the medium compound tyre. The fastest time set by a non-Mercedes on the same compound was Daniel Ricciardo’s timesheet topping day one effort – this being 0.846 seconds slower than Hamilton.
As previously mentioned, timesheets are fickle. What makes Hamilton’s day four impressive is that the headlines times were achieved despite the Briton having only completed 25 unrepresentative laps in the car prior to his run on Thursday afternoon. Hamilton has adapted to his new machinery quickly and is able to deliver impressive speed early on.
“So far it’s been really good,” said Hamilton. “Normally I’m not someone who likes testing, but today [Thursday] actually I was really keen to get out because we haven’t had many laps.
“It’s difficult to say whether the car is that much better, how much of it is the track and the grip and the tyres. Next week we’ll get a better understanding.
“But it definitely feels like a faster car compared to last year’s car, so that’s positive.”
Mercedes seems to have enjoyed a promising first week as it begins its quest for a fifth world championship title double. However, its chief adversaries from last season also seem to be in good shape.
Like Mercedes, Ferrari has avoided reliability headaches – a crucial barometer of first test success. With 298 laps recorded, early signs are that the team has addressed the crippling weakness which ultimately helped to derail Sebastian Vettel’s title hopes last term.
With the exception of Vettel’s excursion through the gravel trap on Tuesday, it has been a trouble free week for the team billed as the most likely to dethrone Mercedes.
“So far, things have been looking OK,” said Vettel, “but there has been very limited running for everyone, so it’s very difficult not just for yourself to judge but also to judge compared to the others.
“To be honest though it’s not that important in the first week. You just want to make sure the car is running.”
What of the third of F1’s so-called ‘Big Three?’ Red Bull has made a habit of starting slow and playing catch-up throughout a season. By topping the timesheet on day one, Ricciardo demonstrated both the team’s desire to shake off this trend and that there may be cause for fans to be optimistic of a three-way title fight.
“It’s a big difference, the way the car is handling, and I think it’s in a positive way,” Max Verstappen stated.
After Ricciardo’s day one benchmark, Red Bull slipped into relative anonymity. Verstappen finished ninth on the timesheet on a final day which included a trip into the gravel trap at Turn 12, but he is not concerned about the team’s pace relative to Mercedes and Ferrari.
“I’m not too worried yet,” he added. “You know Mercedes and Ferrari are going to be strong anyway. I’m quite happy with the car so far. In the second week maybe we’ll show a bit more.”
What bodes well for Red Bull is that the Renault works team also enjoyed a positive opening week, with Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr regularly impressing on both long and short runs. Renault looks to be the fourth fastest team at the close of play of test one and the RS18 has been reliable throughout the week.
Power unit’s will be stretched in 2018, with only three engines permitted for use across the 21 races. That equates to a 40 percent increase in terms of distance which each power unit will have to cover. Renault had the most work to do with regards to reliability over the winter and early signs are that the French marque has bridged the gap on that front.
Renault reliability gains now also generate a cheer at Woking. McLaren’s first week of testing started off in relatively concerning fashion but ended on a high note.
Fernando Alonso’s MCL33 shedding its right-rear tyre courtesy of a ‘wheelnut issue’ after just four laps on day one led to a three hour delay. This was then compounded by an exhaust headache on day two which truncated Stoffel Vandoorne’s first day at the wheel.
An exhaust clip failed, leading to the pipe coming loose and burning a section of the engine cover. Rather than Honda related woes, a “£2 problem” according to racing director Eric Boullier cost the team significant track time.
Being bottom of the mileage charts with just 88 laps after the first two days, McLaren needed to recover quickly. A century of laps from Vandoorne on the final day along with a 51 lap stint from Alonso in the closing hours was a promising end to an initally concerning week.
This season is critical to McLaren, who will face direct comparisons with both Red Bull and a seemingly improved Renault works team. Small ‘£2 problems’ could prove to be the difference in a tight constructors’ championship fight. Testing is designed to highlight these issues, of course, but McLaren will need to avoid any such hold-ups next week when track time will be all the more crucial in more representative conditions.
Its former partner Honda was the star of the week. Now powering Toro Rosso, the new partnership delivered a resoundingly successful test, free from reliability problems, allowing Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley to amass the highest mileage total of any team.
Toro Rosso’s 324 laps have served to reset expectations ahead of the new season and will have been noted by sister team Red Bull, who will have to decide whether to adopt the Honda power unit for next season by May.
It will be fascinating to see if Toro Rosso can continue its mammoth mileage in the second test, where Honda’s power unit performance will also come under more scrutiny.
The frenetic nature of the final day of the first test, in which 15 of 2018’s 20 race drivers took to the circuit, is likely to be a prologue for the second week. The weather has shaken up run plans and heavily restricted what teams have been able to accomplish. For instance, no team has yet completed a race simulation run – something that Mercedes achieved on just the second day of testing last season – as conditions have too unrepresentative.
Everyone has work to do. The forecast for the second week is busy.
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