McLaren ended Formula One’s pre-season schedule rooted to the bottom of the lap charts after concluding their winter schedule with another frustrating day.
Lewis Hamilton’s world championship-winning Mercedes team passed through the 1,000-lap barrier on Friday following another bulletproof pre-season campaign, but McLaren have completed only 599 laps, the fewest of any of the 10 teams.
Defending champion Hamilton signed off his winter schedule by completing nearly a century of laps on Friday morning. Hamilton, who managed 97 circuits, was 11th on the timesheets with Mercedes yet to show their true one-lap pace.
Valtteri Bottas took the team’s lap tally for the day to 201 after taking over testing duties from Hamilton in the afternoon. The Finn finished sixth in the order.
Ferrari
The speed of the Scuderia surprised a few people over the past two weeks and the Italian marque look to have made a considerable jump from this time 12 months ago. They have no issue clocking up the laps, with Sebastian Vettel completing 187 in one day alone – a distance of nearly 800km. The German also produced a new unofficial track record to top the timesheets on Thursday. But whether they can continue to bring this form into Melbourne and the rest of the season remains to be seen.
Mercedes
There’s no doubt the world champions will be challenging for podiums in most of the races this season, but the key will be how close their rivals are in the new machines. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of 1:19.333 in the first week and continued to be a menace around the Circuit de Catalunya throughout the second. Consistently solid but they do not appear unbeatable.
Red Bull
The early pace setters on week one, but still set 100 laps fewer than Mercedes. But with two victories from the final five races of last season, Christian Horner’s side will certainly be challenging for more podiums this time around, especially with a more reliable car and two commanding figures in Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. If they want a shot at a first title since 2013, however, they need to start by showing their consistency in Melbourne. Mixed testing but still solid if unspectacular.
McLaren
Team boss Zac Brown played down some of the failings during testing, but the reality is the new Renault-powered car completed fewer miles than any other team. Fernando Alonso missed nearly seven hours of testing on Wednesday following another car failure. Stoffel Vandoorne, meanwhile, spent more time in the garage than on the track on Tuesday – completing a session-low 38 laps. Overall, It was a disappointing two weeks for a team that were expected to make the most headway.
Williams
A solid two weeks for Williams, and definitely a workload Paddy Lowe will be content with when he sits down to analyse the data in Wantage next week. With much pressure on his shoulders, Sergey Sirotkin showed he was ready for the new campaign and will be eager to impress come Melbourne – with reserve driver Robert Kubica lurking in the paddock. 19-year-old Lance Stroll had a productive two weeks, clocking up the mileage. When they have more track time, the British marque should be around the midfield but may be off the likes of McLaren and Force India.
Toro Rosso
An encouraging week for Toro Rosso as the team’s new partnership with Honda got off to a positive start. Frenchman Pierre Gasly topped the mileage charts with 229 on the first week, with Brendon Hartley looking more comfortable behind the wheel than did he did towards the back end of last season. Franz Tost’s team look to have made more progress than most of the other teams, but can they carry that form into the new season?
Renault
A solid start to the year for the French outfit as they bid to push the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari at the top of the grid. The yellow RS18 is certainly the best looking car in Formula One but it is hoped the engine reliability will be able to help them steer free of trouble. Team chief Cyril Abiteboul has described their start as the best since 2014 – and with Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg clocking up the miles with ease, it looks to be the beginning of a new dawn for Renault.
Sauber
Although they struggled for long periods in testing, it was exciting to see how 20-year-old sensation Charles Leclerc fared against his team-mate Marcus Ericsson – now in his fourth season at Sauber. The poor weather may have proved costly on week one as they attempted to work out the fundamentals of their new design, but expect the Swiss outfit to be closer to their rivals, especially with the new Ferrari engine.
Force India
Testing didn’t prove too useful for a team who are expected to be challenging at the front of the grid, with Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez only competing 79 and 65 laps respectively in the first week. They were fairly consistent across the second week – with the Frenchman posting 130 laps on Wednesday. Work still needs to be done before the first outing in Australia, but expect both drivers to be a consistent presence in the top eight.
Haas
The American team maintained their consistent form during testing week – with Kevin Magnussen setting solid times throughout the two weeks of testing. The Dane even finished P2 on Thursday – with a stunning 1:18.360. With two top-six finishes since 2016, Haas have reason to be encouraged despite Romain Grosjean being among the slowest drivers. The Frenchman will no doubt be back to his best come March 24.
