Testing is done, and it’s time for lights out! Did we really learn anything from testing this year? It’s all a bit hard to say at this stage, and we won’t really know anything for sure until qualifying begins. Ferrari have continued to show reliability, pace and confidence. We can only hope are back up there with the top two. Red Bull showed themselves to be quick, with Max Verstappen posting the fastest time in testing. No one however knows how much fuel they had on board compared to everyone else so it is hard to say. The biggest question mark concerns Mercedes. It feels like we have heard this all before from the Silver Arrows. They looked out of sorts and didn’t post any spectacular lap times across either of the sessions. We heard lots from Russell and Hamilton talking up other teams and saying that they will not be fighting for wins at the start of the season. Is this true?
Testing is done, and it’s time for lights out! Did we really learn anything from testing this year? It’s all a bit hard to say at this stage, and we won’t really know anything for sure until qualifying begins. Ferrari have continued to show reliability, pace and confidence. We can only hope are back up there with the top two. Red Bull showed themselves to be quick, with Max Verstappen posting the fastest time in testing. No one however knows how much fuel they had on board compared to everyone else so it is hard to say.
The biggest question mark concerns Mercedes. It feels like we have heard this all before from the Silver Arrows. They looked out of sorts and didn’t post any spectacular lap times across either of the sessions. We heard lots from Russell and Hamilton talking up other teams and saying that they will not be fighting for wins at the start of the season. Is this true?
If you look at previous year’s you would have to say probably not. Time and again we have seen this from this team. They don’t want to show their cards early and are perfectly within their rights to do that. If after qualifying in Bahrain they are behind Red Bull and Ferrari, then we can only then truly believe them. You get the feeling though that the Mercedes will be finally turned up to the max and will be right up there at the front.
McLaren’s issues look a lot more real. After a really positive test in Barcelona, things did not go well in the Bahrain test. Firstly, they lost Daniel Riccardo to Covid. He will have to go into the first weekend horribly short on time in the car. For Lando, he got to benefit, filling in for all three testing days thanks to Riccardo’s illness. That’s where things however didn’t go well for Lando either. Persistent braking issues stopped McLaren from making the progress that they had hoped for. They could genuinely be in trouble coming into the first race. Car issues are one thing, but never really fixing them is a real concern.
Elsewhere, most drivers were getting in mileage without bothering to show their true pace. Haas got some great milage in the bank and will be happy to have something go right for a change! Formula 1 fans will be thrilled to finally have the first race weekend here. We can cut out the pre-season mind games and let the cars loose. Ferrari have put a bit of a target on themselves with all the talk of their resurgence. It will be up to Carlos and Charles to now put the foot down and try to smash their laps and put one of the cars on pole!
It’s going to be fascinating to see how Hamilton, Russell, Sainz and Leclerc tackle Max’s aggressive nature, and I doubt very much they will all get through the first lap without some kind of contact. The new car regulations also failed to show much clarity in testing, with some drivers saying it was easier to follow and some not. Drivers have already complained that they feel the tyres are even worse this year, which is a real concern. It’s only right to expect the first few races to be a developing stage for the cars, with many changes expected. Everyone believes there will be teams that will have got the design right and some that will have messed it up completely! Once teams see what works, the other teams will begin to follow those designs and the looks of the cars and performance will begin to even things out. I do believe in Ferrari’s optimism and fancy one of their drivers will take on Max for the first win!
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