Thoughts on Barcelona Testing

[Nitrodaze]

If anyone is having doubts that Mercedes are going to be mighty this season, Hamilton's 156 laps has scrubbed any doubts. No other team managed to get to the hundred mark due to gremlins and niggly little issues. The Mercedes seem to have the most reliable car on the grid at the mo. The Ferrari seemed to be showing some frailty with only 69 laps but looking definitely quick. It is early days, we have to see what the next few days unfold.

I suspect Mercedes are going to show the true pace of the car around day 3 or 4. Then we would be able to gauge how close Ferrari really is. I am happy to see the Mclaren looking stronger than last year. Reliability seem to have improved markedly. The Mclaren has racked up more laps than the Ferrari and the Williams and is running solidly two seconds behind the best time of the day. This is bound to be a great start upon which to build on this season for Mclaren.

It is looking like a difficult day for Haas and Renault at the moment with around thirty laps each. Haas has had a tougher day with a failed front wing but seemed fine on pace. The Manor is ahead of the Haas on the timesheet with also more laps at 54. I suppose we could say that Manor has the psychological advantage at this time. It would be fascinating to see Wehrlein duking it with the more experienced Grosjean come Melbourne.
Similarly, the Williams is ahead of the Force India on the timesheet with nearly 30 laps more running. While we cannot tell much on the relative pace of the Force india to the Williams in the hands of the rookie Celis, we can deduce at this point that the Williams seem more reliable at this early stage, which is a plus. It is also interesting to see that the Williams ran an identical time as the Redbull. The Redbull is looking good with its Renault; ahem Tag Heuer engine.

Maybe we shall get an idea of the pecking order by day 3 of the testing. The 2016 season of F1 racing opens in some style.