The last thing F1 needs is yet another rules overhaul

Those following testing in Barcelona this week only have to look at the lap times to see that there has been a clear step forward in speed.

We are still nowhere near seeing the true potential of any of this year’s cars, but that has not stopped Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg lapping already more than a second under Nico Rosberg’s pole time for last year’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Just three weeks remain until the start of the third season of the current hybrid era, a period that has been crying out for stability while the teams continue to conquer an array of new technology that, once properly honed, should naturally provide us with the fastest cars that have ever graced the sport.

Yet while the need for time and patience is staring the rulemakers in the face, it seems as though we are about to have another handful of changes thrown our way.

News that plans to rip up the rulebook and introduce yet another set of regulations aimed at producing high-performance cars and make them seconds faster will most likely get the go ahead for the 2017 season is disappointing, but not unsurprising, given the manner in which we have seen the F1 Strategy Group and F1 Commission work in recent years.

These, after all, are the same bodies that brought us double points, the thankfully never introduced standing restarts and are now attempting to have a new “elimination” style qualifying system – a part of the Grand Prix weekend that did not need changing – rubberstamped in time for Melbourne.

Once we see the class of 2016 truly unleashed, those already improved times will only tumble further. A step forward of between two and three seconds looks more than achievable. Take into account the inevitable development of the cars over the course of this season and into next, and come 2017 they will be faster still.

This would be more than achievable by sticking to the set of regulations that exist now, not by forcing teams that are already strapped for cash to spend millions building new cars that, while likely to increase speeds, will be more aero-dependant and almost certain to harm the quality of the racing.

Formula One is far from in rude health. Fans are being turned off for a number of reasons, chief among them the domination of the Mercedes team that, at first glance, is likely to continue into 2016.

Yet the fact remains that when naturally aspirated V10 engines made way for hybrid power in 2014, the Silver Arrows simply did the best job with the set of rules that each person in the paddock was given.

Single team superiority has always existed in F1. Each decade is underpinned by an era in which one manufacturer was better than the rest.

It started with Alfa Romeo in the 1950s, before Lotus took over in the sixties and again in the seventies. The late 1980s saw McLaren in a class of their own, before Williams dominated the nineties and Ferrari ruled the early 2000s. Entertaining it may not always be when we are in the midst of such a spell, but history dictates that a dominant team is always caught.

Mercedes may not be beaten this year, but they will be eventually. If the current rules remain, the laws of diminishing returns will take over and they will be caught. Completely overhaul the regulations, and what’s to say that they won’t simply steal another march on the opposition, aided by their vast reserves of wealth, and pull even further ahead of everyone else?

Formula One is crying out for changes that encourage more competition, but by going after the technical regulations, it is its own product that is being harmed.

One idea would be a complete overhaul on the way in which prize money is distributed, scrapping payments to constructors just for being there longer than everyone else and ensuring that all teams receive a fair slice of the cake for their efforts.

Testing is another aspect that requires urgent attention, with an increase in pre-season running needed so that teams no longer turn up in Melbourne still battling to get to grips with their new cars.

The number of engines available to each driver over a season is also in need of reassessment, as are the senseless grid penalties handed down to anyone who dares go over their allotted amount.

These are changes that would be pure and easy to implement with the right people in charge. It would result in a more competitive sport as the gulf in class closes up, and in turn would get people watching again, but instead a combination of yet another aerodynamic revolution and laborious gimmicks such as a Driver of the Day award appear set to win the day.

If those at the top remained sensible and focused on promoting the fact that the current hybrid powerplants are some of the most impressive innovations seen in the history of the motor car, did not use the media to publicly lambast their own product and stopped suggesting laughable ideas in a futile bid to “improve the show”, maybe, just maybe, the sport would not be in its current predicament.

Someone just needs to hand them the memo.

Stephen D’Albiac

NOTE: I will be writing a series of follow-up blogs in the coming days about the changes that I would make to Formula One. Stay tuned!

Barcelona testing – Day eight analysis

So that’s it! Pre-season testing is over for another year, and unlike previous seasons, we still don’t have much of an idea over just who is where.

One thing we can be sure about is that not a great deal has changed from the end of last season. The top four are still the top four, last season’s midfield are still the midfield and Marussia and Caterham are still bringing up the year. In what order these teams are, however, remains to be seen.

Nico Rosberg followed up Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton’s impressive lap on low fuel yesterday with the quickest time today. His time of 1:20.130 was three tenths faster than Fernando Alonso, who underlined the undoubted improvement that Ferrari have made from the end of 2012.

No other teams attempted a low fuel run today, with everyone else running more general testing programmes. While in some ways a surprise that the majority of teams have not attempted a proper qualifying simulation, it could well be they are wanting to wait until Melbourne, and when they will have their final packages with which they will start the season, before seeing exactly what they have got on minimum fuel.

Red Bull haven’t shown any true pace, but their car looks well balanced and with little regulation changes from last year, you would expect them to be right up there. Ferrari and Lotus also look to have made steps forward, despite the latter having the test slightly disrupted by Kimi Raikkonen’s illness.

One team that appears to be struggling a little bit is McLaren. Despite showing strong pace in the first two tests, there are suggestions that the team is struggling over long runs compared to the rest of their rivals, which could well leave them off the pace when we get to Melbourne.

Despite showing very strong pace over one lap, Mercedes are still lacking over the long runs. There is no doubt they have improved from the end of last season, but it is unlikely they will be able to challenge for the win at the first race. Podiums are a possibility, but that is the most they can probably hope for.

Williams have shown good pace with their new car, and with a strong line-up in Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas, look as if they may have jumped to the front of the midfield, although the gap between them, Sauber, Force India and Toro Rosso is not going to be that big.

Marussia look to have the advantage over Caterham in the battle for tenth place in the championship, although with major upgrades planned before the start of the European season, it looks like the former Lotus team are prepared to begin the championship with a slight deficit to their rivals and claw the time back later. With points likely to be hard to come by for either team, it could potentially be a clever strategy.

However, the big question of who is quickest, despite any predictions that can be made, will not definitively be known until the chequered flag drops at the end of Q3 in Melbourne.

My Predicted Pecking Order
1) Red Bull
2) Ferrari
3) Lotus
4) McLaren
5) Mercedes
6) Williams
7) Sauber
8) Force India
9) Toro Rosso
10) Marussia
11) Caterham

Timesheets
1) Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes – 1m20.130s (131 laps)
2) Fernando Alonso (Esp) Ferrari – 1m20.494s (120 laps)
3) Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes – 1m21.444s (122 laps)
4) Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari – 1m21.541s (118 laps)
5) Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus-Renault – 1m21.658s (50 laps)
6) Paul di Resta (GB) Force India-Mercedes – 1m21.664s (112 laps)
7) Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Renault – 1m22.415s (42 laps)
8) Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault – 1m22.514s (100 laps)
9) Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams-Renault – 1m22.524s (31 laps)
10) Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham-Renault – 1m23.115s (116 laps)
11) Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia-Cosworth – 1m23.167s (62 laps)
12) Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1m23.628s (91 laps)
13) Max Chilton (GB) Marussia-Cosworth – 1m24.103s (49 laps)

Stephen D’Albiac

Barcelona testing – Day seven analysis

There is no doubt that the eye-catching performance of testing at Barcelona today was Lewis Hamilton’s stunning laps in the morning session.

Hamilton’s time of 1:20.558 followed a time of 1:20.817 earlier in the morning, and the Mercedes man finished nearly a second clear of second place Felipe Massa.

Although there is no doubting that Hamilton’s time was extremely impressive, there are bound to be question marks over how representative that was of the Mercedes’ true performance and whether the team were doing a full qualifying simulation.

Ferrari had another productive day with Massa setting the second quickest time, although there was an alarming moment for them near the end of the session when the Brazilian’s wheel came off the car on the back straight. A problem of that kind indicates a sizeable failure on the car and so there could be worries for Ferrari as they try to find out what caused the incident.

Judging exactly where Ferrari are at the moment is not easy. There is no doubt they are at the front end of the grid, but with the Scuderia bringing a major upgrade to the first race in Australia, it is impossible to tell just where they’ll be, although delaying improvements until Melbourne suggests they may be fairly confident about where they stand.

Adrian Sutil was impressive in the Force India, while both Williams drivers underlined their new car’s potential by setting the fourth and fifth quickest times respectively.

Another impressive performance came from newly signed Marussia driver Jules Bianchi. The Frenchman, on his first day of running for the team, completed 67 laps and went faster than the Caterham of Giedo van der Garde. Furthermore, his time of 1:24.028 is quicker than anything his teammate Max Chilton has managed in six days of testing at the Barcelona circuit, which is a very positive performance from the newboy.

Lotus’ day was disrupted by Kimi Raikkonen’s bout of food poisoning. As a result, the team’s reserve driver Davide Valsecchi was drafted in to drive this morning, while Romain Grosjean was made to travel back to Spain to run in the afternoon.

Tomorrow is the final day of testing before the grid sets off to Australia for the start of the season, but with everything looking so close, it looks like we will have to wait until then to see exactly who is where.

Timesheets
1) Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes – 1:20.558 (106 laps)
2) Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari – 1:21.359 (90 laps)
3) Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes – 1:21.627 (109 laps)
4) Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Renault – 1:22.305 (34 laps)
5) Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Lotus-Renault – 1:22.468 (27 laps)
6) Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari – 1:22.553 (98 laps)
7) Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren-Mercedes – 1:22.694 (94 laps)
8) Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault – 1:23.116 (52 laps)
9) Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:23.223 (110 laps)
10) Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus-Renault – 1:23.380 (35 laps)
11) Davide Valsecchi (Ita) Lotus-Renault – 1:23.448 (16 laps)
12) Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia-Cosworth – 1:24.028 (67 laps)
13) Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham-Renault – 1:24.235 (121 laps)

Stephen D’Albiac

Barcelona testing – Day six analysis

Romain Grosjean became the first man to top two sessions in pre-season testing by clocking the fastest time around the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday.

The Frenchman’s time of 1:22.716 was half a second quicker than Jenson Button, with Pastor Maldonado, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top five.

Track conditions were once again far from ideal in the morning session as overnight rain made the circuit wet. As a result, the best times were not seen until the track dried in the afternoon, although running was once again compromised in the latter stages of the day as showers hit the circuit.

Lotus will be happy with their day’s work. Having regularly troubled the top of the timesheets during testing, they have clearly made a step forward from 2012 and look in much better shape. Grosjean’s times in the afternoon were consistent and as one of the better teams in terms of managing tyre degradation last year, they will be confident as the first race approaches.

Button also had a strong day in the McLaren, but despite looking one of the strongest teams throughout testing, the car appears to be lacking speed on long runs compared to that of the Red Bull and Ferrari.

Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso propped up the rear, although that will not be a concern to either them or their teams as they were concentrating on long runs when the track conditions were at their peak.

One team that will be having strong concerns is Caterham. The car appears to have gone backwards from last year and they are struggling with reliability issues, a fact further reinforced when Giedo van der Garde’s car ground to a halt in the final hour of running. With the battle for tenth place in the constructors’ championship with Marussia expected to rumble through the season, it is not the start to the new season they would have wished for.

The weather forecast looks much better for the weekend than it has been for the first two days, so with just Saturday and Sunday left to test their cars, we should expect a frantic weekend as the teams look to extract every last bit of performance from their 2013 packages as the first race approaches.

Timesheets
1) Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus-Renault – 1:22.716 (88 laps)
2) Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes – 1:23.181 (72 laps)
3) Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Renault – 1:23.628 (75 laps)
4) Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault – 1:23.743 (65 laps)
5) Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari – 1:23.744 (79 laps)
6) Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes – 1:24.215 (62 laps)
7) Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:25.483 (61 laps)
8) Max Chilton (GB) Marussia-Cosworth – 1:25.598 (75 laps)
9) Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham-Renault – 1:26.316 (48 laps)
10) Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes – 1:26.655 (120 laps)
11) Fernando Alonso (Esp) Ferrari – 1:27.878 (102 laps)

Stephen D’Albiac

Barcelona testing – Day five analysis

A largely rain-affected day at the Circuit de Catalunya meant that, as on the final day of running last week, laptimes were largely irrelevant.

The timesheet was topped by Mark Webber, with Lewis Hamilton, Jean-Eric Vergne and  Valtteri Bottas rounding out the top four. Webber’s benchmark of 1:22.693 was just under a second slower than the fastest time set by Sergio Perez last week, underlying the fact that although the track conditions were improving vastly towards the end of the session, they did not get down to a completely dry level.

Hamilton showed Mercedes’ wet-weather potential in the morning session with the quickest time, two tenths ahead of Felipe Massa. The stand-out performance, however, came from Vergne, who set the third fastest time in the morning and lapped one and a half seconds quicker than Webber in the sister Red Bull. Although that could mean nothing when it comes to a wet Grand Prix, that result will give Toro Rosso plenty of confidence that they can punch above their weight in those conditions.

The rain would not have been welcomed by any of the teams, with this week being the last chance for them to test out their new cars before the season opener in Melbourne. A lot of them will also have been running significant upgrades ahead of the first race, so the loss of dry running is not something that will have been popular around the Barcelona paddock.

There is more rain forecast to hit the Circuit de Catalunya tomorrow, but the outlook for the weekend currently looks dry, which means we should be set for a frantic last couple of days running before the teams pack up their cars and head Down Under.

Timesheets
1) Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault – 1:22.693 (90 laps)
2) Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes – 1:24.348 (113 laps)
3) Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:25.017 (59 laps)
4) Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams-Renault – 1:26.458 (85 laps)
5) Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren-Mercedes – 1:26.538 (100 laps)
6) Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari – 1:26.574 (92 laps)
7) Paul di Resta (GB) Force India-Mercedes – 1:27.107 (57 laps)
8) Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari – 1:27.541 (112 laps)
9) Max Chilton (GB) Marussia-Cosworth – 1:28.166 (78 laps)
10) Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham-Renault – 1:28.644 (83 laps)
11) Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus-Renault – 1:34.928 (52 laps)

Stephen D’Albiac

Barcelona testing – Day four analysis

With rain hitting the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday, any laptimes recorded by any of the teams were rendered utterly meaningless as the track conditions never got to a level where a proper dry time could be recorded.

In the small window during the morning where the cars were able to run on dry tyres, Lewis Hamilton was quickest, followed by Jenson Button, Jean-Eric Vergne and Jules Bianchi.

However, the day wasn’t a complete write-off as it gave teams the chance to try out Pirelli’s new wet-weather tyres for the first time and gain a good amount of running on both the full wet and the intermediate rubber. With only four more days of testing remaining before the first race, there was a real danger that the season could start without any wet-weather track time and the teams could well have had to learn the tyres on the job during a race.

This is especially important when you consider that two of the first three races of the season (Malaysia and China) have a significant history when it comes to wet races and therefore the teams will be relieved to have been able to record some data on the tyres before the season starts.

The conditions did cause a number of stoppages throughout the day, with no fewer than eight red flags during the session.

With regards to the overall pecking order, Barcelona hasn’t taught us much more that we didn’t already know from the test in Jerez, although things look more positive for Mercedes, with Nico Rosberg saying the team has found more than a second from last season.

Williams have also made a good start to life with their new car and look to be somewhere near the front of the midfield, whilst Marussia look to be in a better position than Caterham at this stage, although their refusal to run Luiz Razia at all during the week is disappointing to say the least.

The top four teams from last season look very closely matched, with McLaren and Red Bull perhaps enjoying a small advantage over Ferrari and Lotus at this stage.

With that in mind, here’s a second (and probably wrong) pre-season stab at a pecking order:
1) McLaren
2) Red Bull
3) Lotus
4) Ferrari
5) Mercedes
6) Williams
7) Sauber
8) Force India
9) Toro Rosso
10) Marussia
11) Caterham

Timesheets
1) Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes – 1:23.282 (52 laps)
2) Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes – 1:23.633 (70 laps)
3) Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:24.071 (80 laps)
4) Jules Bianchi (Fra) Force India-Mercedes – 1:25.732 (96 laps)
5) Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari – 1:26.239 (61 laps)
6) Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham-Renault – 1:27.429 (50 laps)
7) Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari – 1:27.563 (80 laps)
8) Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault – 1:27.616 (64 laps)
9) Max Chilton (GB) Marussia-Cosworth – 1:29.902 (51 laps)
10) Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus-Renault – 1:34.800 (41 laps)
11) Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams-Renault – no time set (23 laps)
12) Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Renault – no time set (13 laps)

Stephen D’Albiac

Barcelona testing – Day three analysis

With the chequered flag having waved to signify the end of the Thursday’s running at the Circuit de Catalunya, there is no doubt that Fernando Alonso and Ferrari will be incredibly happy with their day’s work.

Alonso was undoubtedly the stand-out performer in the morning, with the Spaniard setting a series of impressive and consistent times on the soft tyre and his best time of 1:21.875 remaining unbeaten throughout the day.

Although Alonso’s time was just shy of Sergio Perez’s benchmark from yesterday, Ferrari can draw confidence from the fact that they appear to have fixed their problems over one lap and are now able to challenge their rivals in this department, a weakness that almost certainly played a part in costing them the championship last year.

Nico Hulkenberg also showed Sauber’s hand over a single lap with an impressive time that was around a quarter of a second off Alonso’s pace. Having spent the first two days of the test concentrating on long runs, the Swiss team will be confident they have a car that can challenge for Q3 on a regular basis this season.

Romain Grosjean was undoubtedly the busiest driver on track on Thursday, with the Frenchman completing 119 laps which included a full race distance simulation in the afternoon. Grosjean set the third quickest time and continued Lotus’ relentless appearances near the front end of the timesheets in pre-season.

Williams continued their strong start to testing with their new car, with Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas sharing driving duties and finishing up fifth and sixth respectively. It has been a positive start to life with the FW35, but those question marks over the legality of the team’s exhaust will linger on over the coming weeks.

Elsewhere, McLaren and Red Bull had low-key days as they focused on long runs rather than going for the outright pace they’d shown on the first two days. Adrian Sutil had a good first day’s running on his return to Force India as he completed 75 laps and ended the day in eighth place. It remains to be seen whether the German lands the team’s remaining race seat as he fights it out with Jules Bianchi for that honour. Jean-Eric Vergne, Max Chilton and Giedo van der Garde completed the times.

With Friday’s running looking likely to be a washout, we could well have seen the last meaningful action of the second pre-season test.

Timesheets
1) Fernando Alonso (Esp) Ferrari – 1:21.875 (97 laps)
2) Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari – 1:22.160 (91 laps)
3) Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus-Renault – 1:22.188 (119 laps)
4) Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes – 1:22.611 (106 laps)
5) Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Renault – 1:22.675 (79 laps)
6) Valtteri Bottas (Ven) Williams-Renault – 1:22.826 (66 laps)
7) Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes – 1:22.840 (71 laps)
8) Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes – 1:22.877 (78 laps)
9) Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault – 1:23.024 (107 laps)
10) Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:23.366 (106 laps)
11) Max Chilton (GB) Marussia-Cosworth – 1:25.690 (56 laps)
12) Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham-Renault – 1:26.177 (93 laps)

Stephen D’Albiac

Barcelona testing – Day one analysis

A large number of improvements towards the end of running on the first day of testing at Barcelona means the lap times presented a misleading picture of who was doing what today.

Nico Rosberg’s time of 1:22.616 put them just seven one-thousandths of a second clear of Kimi Raikkonen in the overall standings, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.

However, for a lot of the day it was Vettel who had been quickest around the Circuit de Catalunya. The world champion set the quickest lap of the morning on the hard tyres and then lowered that benchmark in the afternoon on the mediums. The Red Bull was one of the fastest cars at the last test in Jerez and has definitely continued in the same vein here.

Alonso also impressed during the course of Tuesday. The Ferrari driver missed the first test in Jerez to concentrate on physical training for the new season and wasted no time getting down to work today, completing 110 laps – 24 more than any other driver – and was in the around the front end of the times for the majority of the day.

Williams launched their new car this morning and Pastor Maldonado enjoyed a trouble-free day of running to end the day fifth, a good showing considering the FW35 is one test behind the rest of its rivals in terms of track time. However, with it being the first day of running, it is too early to say where they are compared to the other teams.

Lotus had another good day of running, with Kimi Raikkonen setting the second quickest time on both the hard and medium tyres, whilst McLaren opted to stay out of the limelight as Sergio Perez finished down in seventh, 1.5 seconds off the pace. One can’t help but feel that McLaren will show its hand more over the coming days.

Elsewhere, Daniel Ricciardo continued Toro Rosso’s promising start to testing by posting the sixth fastest time, whilst Paul di Resta and Esteban Gutierrez got a good amount of running in. Max Chilton edged out Charles Pic at the back of the grid.

With the teams having used the first day to acclimatise themselves to the Circuit de Catalunya, we should get a clearer picture of who’s looking good over the next few days.

Timesheets
1) Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes – 1m22.616s (54 laps)
2) Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus – 1m22.623s (44 laps)
3) Fernando Alonso (Esp) Ferrari – 1m22.952s (110 laps)
4) Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull – 1m22.965s (66 laps)
5) Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams – 1m23.733s (86 laps)
6) Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso – 1m23.884s (73 laps)
7) Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren – 1m24.124s (77 laps)
8) Paul di Resta (GB) Force India – 1m24.144s (82 laps)
9) Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber – 1m25.124s (68 laps)
10) Max Chilton (GB) Marussia – 1m26.747s (65 laps)
11) Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham – 1m27.534s (49 laps)

Stephen D’Albiac

F1 pre-season testing – what to expect

Pre-season testing is an exciting time in the Formula One calendar. It is the first chance for fans to see the new cars in action, the first chance to see some drivers at their new teams, but more importantly it is the first time a wheel has been turned in anger since the chequered flag fell at Interlagos two months ago and the realisation that the new season is just over the horizon.

With just nine days until the first test gets underway, here are some of the things to look out for over the coming weeks.

Times aren’t everything
While the teams will be pushing to see how good their new cars are, it is a very dangerous thing to take the timesheets as gospel at this stage. Teams will be running all sorts of different fuel loads, tyre compounds and aero packages as they look to test every component of their new challengers.

For example, some teams in the midfield might deliberately run with low fuel in an attempt to appear more competitive than they actually are. This was a ploy notably tried by Sauber in 2010 in an attempt to gain sponsorship. On the other hand, some of the bigger teams may run with heavy fuel loads and hide their true pace.

The best way to gauge how fast the new cars are is to look at a team’s long-run pace compared to its rivals. This generally gives a more accurate reading of a team’s performance than looking at the times. While looking at this won’t give a clear-cut picture of how each outfit stands, it can definitely give an indication of what to expect before Melbourne.

Varying track conditions
Unlike a Grand Prix weekend, where 90-minute sessions are the norm, a test session lasts all day. With temperatures rising and then falling again as the day goes on you could end up with lap times being much faster at the beginning of the day than the end, or vice versa. Therefore the running order can easily be distorted if a team stays in the garage when the track is at its best, so it’s worth looking out for when the best times were set and who was on track at that time.

In addition, if rain hits the track during the day the lap charts could give some indication as to how each team is looking in the wet, and could give an idea as to what could happen when the weather inevitably affects the running at some point during the season.

Barcelona a better indicator than Jerez
The Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona is widely accepted as one of the best indicators of a car’s performance. As a track that incorporates a mix of fast, medium and slow corners as well as a couple of long straights, it is a true all-rounder.

Therefore, if a team is off the pace at Barcelona, it is more likely to be a sign of a poor car than at Jerez, which isn’t as good a barometer of overall performance as its Spanish counterpart.

Watch out for interviews
Interviews can give a great indication of how good a team is looking ahead of the first race. While drivers and team principals will be hesitant to give too much away to their rivals, if they are refusing to talk to the media or stating that are still trying understand the car, as was the case with Ferrari last year, it could be a sign that a team is struggling.

On the flip side, if an outfit that isn’t troubling the timesheets but is subtly talking up their prospects, such as saying they are happy with the progress of their car and publicly stating they are where they wanted to be, it is generally a sign that they are sandbagging and will be right in the mix when the season begins.

Look out for the drivers
With each team allowed to run only one car per day during testing, you generally won’t see teammates run on the same day. Therefore it is best to check the times of both race drivers in a team to see how they are shaping up.

This will be particularly interesting in the cases of Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, as it will give fans a chance to see how well they are adapting to their new teams. It also applies in the case of rookies such as Esteban Gutierrez and Valtteri Bottas as it will be the first chance to see how they stack up against more experienced teammates.

Looking at all these different factors can help give a much better idea of who’s hot and who’s not. And with just nine days to go until the cars fire up in Jerez, there is not long to go until we get the first indications about who stands where.

Stephen D’Albiac