What each team needs from F1’s second pre-season test

Mercedes 

Total laps so far: 393 
Test 1 fastest time: 1m19.138s (Hamilton, C5) 

The reigning world champions look to be in a good position after the first test of 2022. Mercedes ended running in Barcelona fastest (for what it’s worth) with Lewis Hamilton leading new teammate George Russell in a 1-2 and the team had no major issues. 

However, Hamilton suggested Mercedes did not have a perfect test when he admitted the team had overcome some “obstacles”. Mercedes seemed to be struggling with F1’s returning porpoising phenomenon on day one but by day three, the W13 looked more stable as the team addressed the bouncing issue. 

Mercedes is understood to be bringing a significant update package to Bahrain, so making sure that correlates to its simulations and performs as expected will be key to ensuring the team is well-placed for the opening race. 

Red Bull 

Total laps so far: 358 
Test 1 fastest time: 1m19.556s (Perez, C4) 

It was a steady if unspectacular start to pre-season testing for Red Bull and reigning world champion Max Verstappen in Barcelona. 

The Milton Keynes based outfit conducted plenty of running and went largely untroubled from a reliability perspective, aside from a gearbox issue that curtailed Sergio Perez on the second morning. 

As such, Red Bull will be targeting a bulletproof second test in Bahrain, where like Mercedes, it is expected to bring fresh updates for the RB18. Will it unleash some of its potential before the season opener? 

Ferrari 

Total laps so far: 439
Test 1 fastest time: 1m19.689s (Leclerc, C3) 

Things couldn’t have gone much smoother for Ferrari in the opening test as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz racked up the most mileage of any team, while Leclerc showed a flash of pace to head the timesheets on the second day. 

Ferrari faced no mechanical problems and there are positive noises coming out of the team regarding the gains it has made with its new internal combustion engine for 2022. There is a real sense of optimism and a positive buzz surrounding the Maranello outfit after Barcelona. 

Ferrari will be targeting more of the same in the final three days of running to keep up its strong start and go into the new campaign in the best possible shape as it looks to mix it up at the front of the grid. 

McLaren 

Total laps so far: 367
Test 1 fastest time: 1m19.568s (Norris, C4) 

It was a really promising start to 2022 for McLaren in Barcelona, with the team completing solid mileage and also finding itself at the top of the opening day order thanks to a quick lap from Lando Norris. 

McLaren’s test caught the attention of its rivals but Norris downplayed the team’s chances based on the first few days of on-track action this year. The Woking outfit is keen to keep its expectations in check, despite enjoying a very strong first test. 

Encouragingly for McLaren, the MCL36 also appeared to suffer the least with porpoising during the first week of running. Its 2022 challenger looks good on track and McLaren will be hoping for a similar story across the final three days of testing to hit the ground running at the start of the new campaign. 

Alpine 

Total laps so far: 266
Test 1 fastest time: 1m21.242s (Alonso, C3)

Alpine’s Barcelona test ended in a cloud of smoke when a hydraulics problem caused Fernando Alonso to stop on track after just 12 laps before a fire broke out on the back of his A522. 

Until reliability headaches struck on the final day, Alpine had been running solidly. Missing half a day on Friday badly impacted the Anglo-French squad’s final lap count, while the team also had to run its car without using DRS across the three days for precautionary reasons. 

Alpine will be aiming to get on top of those early teething issues in Bahrain as it looks to bounce back from a challenging and underwhelming first week of testing. 

AlphaTauri 

Total laps so far: 308
Test 1 fastest time: 1m19.918s (Gasly, C4)

All in all, it was a very productive first test for AlphaTauri at Barcelona as the AT03 ran smoothly without any major reliability concerns. 

The only dampener was when Pierre Gasly became the only driver to crash after a lock-up at Turn 5 sent him into the wall on the morning of the final day. The incident proved costly as teammate Yuki Tsunoda lost half a day of crucial track time. 

Nevertheless, the early signs are promising for AlphaTauri. Its 2022 challenger looks stable and consistent on track. As AlphaTauri continues to fine-tune its set-up, balance and better understand its new car in Bahrain, will we see another burst of eye-catching pace like last year? 

Aston Martin 

Total laps so far: 296
Test 1 fastest time: 1m19.824s (Vettel, C5)

Aston Martin has good foundations to build on with a solid-looking car and further developments to come in Bahrain. 

The Silverstone-based outfit will be targeting more mileage in the second test after its running in Barcelona was cut-short on the final day, with an oil leak and fire restricting Sebastian Vettel’s lap count on Friday. 

Vettel will be keen to get more laps under his belt across the final week of testing after conceding the drivers have a “mountain to climb” amid their challenge to get to grips with F1’s new generation of cars. 

Williams 

Total laps so far: 347 laps 
Test 1 fastest time: 1m20.318s (Albon, C4)

Aside from picking up some minor damage to a brake duct on the final day, Williams enjoyed a strong first round of 2022 track running in Barcelona with no major problems.

Alex Albon immediately looks at home in his new team and is likely to strike a strong teammate relationship with former F2 stablemate Nicholas Latifi. Williams was able to collect a huge amount of valuable data thanks to a decent mileage total and has plenty to build on heading to Bahrain.

Williams can be very pleased with its work so far and will be hoping for another reliable three days of running in its bid to get on top of its FW44 challenger and move forward from a performance standpoint ahead of the first race. 

Alfa Romeo

Total laps so far: 175 laps
Test 1 fastest time: 1m21.855s (Zhou, C3)

2022 got off to a frustrating start for Alfa Romeo. The Swiss outfit completed the least amount of running bar Haas and saw its Barcelona test hampered by issues pretty much every day. 

More mileage is needed to get on top with failures that were seemingly caused by aggressive porpoising, though Alfa Romeo is confident it will have the relevant fixes in place in time for Bahrain. 

While lap times are irrelevant at this stage, Valtteri Bottas did not get the fresh start he would have been hoping for as he ended the test slowest of all and failed to get any dry running on Friday afternoon due to a technical issue. Meanwhile, rookie teammate Guanyu Zhou triggered two of the five red flag periods on a disrupted final day, adding to the team’s setbacks. 

Alfa Romeo has a lot of work to do if it is going to avoid heading into the new season on the back foot. 

Haas

Total laps so far: 160 
Test 1 fastest time: 1m21.512s (Mazepin, C3)

Haas’ opening pre-season test was hamstrung by a plethora of niggling reliability issues including a cooling leak, broken floor, damaged fuel pump and an oil leak, all of which limited the team’s running. 

It wasn’t exactly an ideal start to 2022 for the American squad, while Haas also faced disruption off the track. The team has since terminated the contract of its title sponsor Uralkali and Russian driver Nikita Mazepin in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Haas could really do with a trouble-free test in Bahrain and lots more laps, but there are at least signs that the team is in a better position than 12 months ago.