Until Renault make further gains – expected during the season – Red Bull are unlikely to seriously challenge Mercedes in 2017. Whilst the new 2017 F1 regulations have attempted to increase the importance of aerodynamics they have not fully addressed the dominance of the power unit. The slippery RB13 design has clearly been created to minimise drag in expectation of the Renault power unit remaining under powered. One thing that was clear from this first test is that the Renault power unit remains under power relative to both Ferrari and Mercedes. Red Bull were slower than Mercedes and Ferrari and maintained their position that they are not expecting to be able to match Mercedes until mid-season. Issues with their Tag Heuer-branded Renault power unit limited Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen to 294 laps. Of the current top 3 teams in F1 Red Bull had the toughest test in Barcelona. The pressure from the Italian media has often forced Ferrari to seek headline-grabbing testing times. When Mercedes – as expected – turn up the power on their hybrid power-unit next week we will get a clearer picture of how close Ferrari really are. A much smoother pre-season test than Ferrari have experienced in the past, it raised expectations that the Scuderia can finally challenge Mercedes in the hybrid-era.įerrari however have a habit of over-performing in pre-season tests only to disappoint in Melbourne. Sebastien Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen racked up 468 laps between them and topped the time sheets regularly. The first Barcelona test was extremely positive for Ferrari. And how far behind the competition remain. Expect the second Barcelona test on 10 March to offer a clearer indication of how good the new Mercedes W08 really is. Ominously on the final day in Barcelona credible sources suggested Mercedes had yet to run their power unit at 100%. Trading top spot on the time sheets with Ferrari on all tyre compounds suggested Ferrari have closed the gap to the Silver Arrows. Over the course of the test Mercedes racked up a mammoth 558 laps. Valterri Bottas got his first test of the Mercedes AMG W08 Barring some minor glitches the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas ran long and fast. Make no mistake, the regulation changes for 2017 have not (yet) toppled Mercedes AMG from their top spot in F1. So what did we learn ahead of the 2017 F1 season? Mercedes AMG Wider cars, more aerodynamics and giant tyres saw lap times tumble in Spain. The first F1 pre-season test of 2017 in Barcelona gave us a chance to see the new era of F1.
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