F1 Testing Analysis: Mixed fortunes for the ‘big three’

Mercedes may have lost almost half of its allocated running time in Barcelona today, but the defending Formula 1 champion squad turned heads this morning by debuting a heavily-revised aerodynamic package for the second week of pre-season testing.

Ferrari left the first test quietly pleased with the job it had done, with observers throughout the paddock praising the team for its strong showing. The SF90 was both quick and reliable, with tyre-adjusted laps suggesting the Italian team had a decent advantage over the rest of the field.

It was an assessment Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko agreed with, while Mercedes’ drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas also both said they felt Ferrari had been impressive out of the blocks. Ferrari didn’t do much to downplay its own display, with Charles Leclerc saying the team wasn’t yet pushing (and nor did he suspect were his rivals).

When the updated Mercedes W10 broke cover on Tuesday morning ahead of the start of on-track running, there were a number of noticeable differences compared to last week. The nose had been revised, looking more like a ‘platypus’ design; the front wing endplate edges had been altered, albeit still sticking with the original design concept that took a different direction to Ferrari; the floor, sidepods and even the t-wing had also undergone changes.

It was a sizeable package Mercedes hoped would give it the chance to make a step toward Ferrari. But as it did for much of last week, the team preferred to focus on its long runs, leaving its drivers towards the foot of the timesheets.

Lewis Hamilton had a fairly productive day in the W10, managing 83 laps through the morning as he focused on long-run pace as he ran chiefly on the C2 and C3 tyres. The timesheets at the end of the day showed a best final sector time for Mercedes of 25.730s – a full nine-tenths quicker than anyone else – but Hamilton cut the final chicane when recording this time, meaning it should not be read into at all…

“We got through our run programme and the car was feeling relatively good. It was an improvement from last week which is a good step,” said Hamilton.

“The tyres are also working a better now that the track temperature is a bit higher. We have to continue to analyse everything and keep pushing.”

The hope would have been for Valtteri Bottas to pick up in the afternoon – only for an issue to strike that forced him to park up at the side of the track on his very first lap of the session.

Mercedes confirmed swiftly that there had been an oil pressure problem on Bottas’ car, reasoning his stoppage. The team then decided to swap out his power unit in order to properly investigate the issue, meaning it had to can the Finn’s planned running for the afternoon.

“Unfortunately, after four days of flawless reliability last week, I spent most of the day waiting as we had an oil pressure issue on my first outlap and had to change the power unit,” said Bottas.

“But I'm glad I still got to do a few laps, the team did a really good job to get the car out again; it was important to get a bit of a feel for the new aero package.

“My running was obviously very limited, but it seems like we've made improvements. We need to review everything in more detail tonight and I'm looking forward to continuing our programme tomorrow morning.”

The setback will have been frustrating to Mercedes, particularly as it looks to get to grips with the new updates on its W10 car, but the team could take a shred of comfort in the fact Ferrari had also lost a chunk of its running in the morning due to checks on its cooling system, limiting Charles Leclerc to only 29 laps.

Again, “it’s testing”; “this is the time for this to happen”, yadda-yadda. We know the drill. Even so, seeing your chief rival have some trouble is never a terrible thing…

Ferrari managed to claw some of its lost mileage back in the afternoon as Sebastian Vettel chalked up 91 laps, setting the fourth-fastest time of the day on the C3 tyre. It marked his fastest time of testing thus far, two-tenths quicker than his previous benchmark, and came on the first flying lap of a nine-lap stint on the tyre. With fuel and tyres adjusted, it’s a quick effort indeed.

“It was a busy afternoon, but it was good to make up for the laps lost in the morning,” said Vettel. “We are still trying to understand the car, trying various setups.

“This afternoon, we also had a first go with the Supersoft compound, just to get some more information. The next couple of days will be important for us.”

Another man happy with his work for the day would have been Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly. Like Mercedes, Red Bull had opted to focus more on long-run pace through the opening test, with Gasly’s time set on Tuesday being a full second quicker than his best from last week. It was also managed on the C3 compound tyre, early in a run. That pace, combined with more than two race distances without any issues on Tuesday, bodes well for Red Bull.

"We pushed a little more today, but really it’s all about understanding how the car works," said Gasly. "There were a lot of aero tests and a lot of items to evaluate for the team today, and that’s good for me as it helps me get more comfortable with the car. Lap after lap it’s getting better, but of course there’s still work to do.

"The pace was good, but we just have to focus on ourselves and work through the programme we’ve defined for each day. So far it’s been positive; we’ve managed to get through our plan and we’ve gained a lot of mileage. The potential is there so we’ll just try to improve in the areas we can, keep our heads down and keep working.”

F1’s ‘big three’ had a mix of fortunes to contend with today. While Lando Norris may have ended the day on top for McLaren, Red Bull will probably have packed up for the night the most content with its running on Tuesday.