Could there be a chink in Mercedes' defence? What are Red Bull holding back? Are Ferrari the real deal? And just how close are McLaren to a crisis?
Friday 17 March 2017 12:09, UK
Mercedes
Fastest lap: 1:19.705, Valtteri Bottas, Day Three, Ultrasofts
Business as usual for the world champions and instant dismissal of any notion that F1's 'rules refresh' might shrink the behemoth?
"A team that strong and with that resource will relish change," new F1 boss Ross Brawn mused to Sky Sports after arriving in Barcelona. "It was naive to think it would destabilise Mercedes. If anything it gave them an advantage."
Events on track certainly appeared at first glance to endorse that conclusion. Although the W08's headline lap times were second to Ferrari's if corrected for tyre compound, paddock insiders were more impressed by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas - who looked a couple of tenths down per lap on his team-mate on the long runs - completing race simulations on Days Two and Three.
But then came Day Four. First there was the electrical fault which sidelined Hamilton and then, more significantly, there were the rumours that all was not entirely well with the 2017 Mercedes engine back at base. Had it broken down on the team's dyno? Will it be introduced for Test Two? And, if not, can it be risked in Australia?
Problems can be fixed and there's no doubting Mercedes are in great shape for the start of F1 2017 - or that they remain the team to beat. But maybe, just maybe, all is not quite as well as first seemed...
Red Bull
Fastest lap: 1:21.153, Daniel Ricciardo, Day Three, Softs
So just what have Red Bull still got up their sleeves for the business end of winter testing next week?
It was a cagey-kind of test for the team long tipped to give Mercedes the toughest challenge in 2017 and the widespread expectation is that Adrian Newey's RB13 will begin to look a lot different, and rather more complex, as Test Two develops.
As team chief Christian Horner acknowledged, Red Bull aren't always the winter's fastest starters and Test One certainly wasn't as trouble-free as the team would have liked, although they still ended as the third-fastest team on the timesheet. Mercedes will certainly be watching with interest.
Ferrari
Fastest lap: 1:19.952, Sebastian Vettel, Day Three, Softs
So is the SF70-H finally the real deal for Ferrari or was it another winter testing false dawn? Described as the 'surprise' of the first test by rivals McLaren, Ferrari ran Mercedes very close on the timesheet on harder tyres and were the only team other than F1's world champions to complete more than 2,000km of running.
Ferrari have attempted to keep the lowest of profiles in 2017 with the lack of soundbites from team management and drivers at the new car's unveiling viewed as something of a lesson learnt after last year's bold predictions fell flat. Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen appear satisfied so far, but the devil will be in the detail next week when Mercedes and Red Bull also come armed with their Melbourne-spec packages.
Force India
Fastest lap: 1:22.509, Esteban Ocon, Day Two, Supersofts
Only seventh in the team-by-team timesheets, but there's a lot more to come from Force India and the VJM10.
The mood inside the team on the final day was quietly confident: While Test One was a steady-as-she goes affair, Test Two is when we will really start to see what the VJM10 is made of - provided, of course, the new Mercedes engine is deemed sufficiently reliable to be sent out to its customers.
Williams
Fastest lap: 1:22.076, Felipe Massa, Day One, Softs
Ouch. Not the start rookie debutant Lance Stroll or Williams wanted after the Canadian teenager crashed three times in two days during week one.
So how do Williams play it with their driver line-up in Test Two? Although they will be acutely keen to give Lance Stroll as much time in the car as possible, the car - not to mention Felipe Massa - also urgently need track time after Stroll's incidents in test one restricted the Brazilian to a mere 100 laps on Day One and the FW40 to 210 for the entire week.
Giving Massa and Stroll half a day each may be the solution, with the proviso that Massa always goes first…
McLaren
Fastest lap: 1:22.576, Stoffel Vandoorne, Day Four, Ultrasofts
Where to start with the latest sad chapter in the McLaren-Honda reunion? How about in the end result: second-bottom in the timesheets for fastest laps and second-bottom in the timesheets for laps completed.
Barcelona Test One 2017 was arguably as painful as Jerez 2015 when the team completed less than 100 laps. At least then the excuse of teething problems had substance. Two years on, the McLaren-Honda partnership should be doing so much better than this.
On track, the car looked good if not spectacularly so. But the speed of the MCL32 is still impossible to determine as the team had to run its engine with the power turned down throughout the final two days after two failures - the first from the 'shape' of the the oil tank, the second a complete shutdown of its engine - rendered the car stationary for most of Monday and Tuesday.
This isn't yet a crisis but if the new Honda engine, which will be introduced at Test Two, doesn't deliver an instant and sizeable improvement, it soon will be.
Toro Rosso
Fastest lap: 1:22.956, Daniil Kvyat, Day Two, Softs
In a spot of bother? The pressure applied within a compressed pre-season, such as this year when the usual three tests have been whittled down to two, is that every day has to count. The problem for Toro Rosso is that in Test One they effectively sat out Day Four entirely - Daniil Kvyat only made it on track for an installation lap - and only completed in excess of a race distance on Day Two.
In other words, they are already a long way behind where they want to be. "A bit of a bumpy ride to begin with" is how team boss Franz Tost succinctly assessed the situation.
The STR12 is a stunner but it needs stamina work, and plenty of it, in week two.
Haas
Fastest lap: 1:22.118, Romain Grosjean, Day Three, Supersofts
A solid start to life for the new Haas VF-17 with fourth place on the mileage charts and a position mid-way down the fastest laps table. The week was not without its mechanical hiccups, such as electrical problems on Day Three, but team chief Guenther Steiner said "it's been a lot better" than 2016.
While the brake issues which dogged them last year are not yet entirely a thing of the past, the 2017 Haas appears a tidy car and the American team look on course to remain one of the midfield's upwardly-mobile outfits.
Renault
Fastest lap: 1:21.396, Jolyon Palmer, Day Three, Softs
The RS17 has been described as the first full-fat Renault of the company's Enstone return and there were positive signs in the first week at Barcelona that the 2017 challenger represents significant progress after the disappointing RS16.
Although the team's week began in intermittent fashion, with several reliability setbacks, it progressed steadily from there with Jolyon Palmer and new recruit Nico Hulkenberg showing flashes of promising speed. Palmer, in his second year at the team, said the car was a clear step forward and was "really happy" with the early signs.
In fact, although impossible to truly quantify given the variables of testing, Palmer's soft-tyre 1:23.396 time on Day Three was behind only the best from Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull for the whole week. They're probably not actually quite that high up, but can Renault now kick on when the development cranks up in Test Two?
Sauber
Fastest time: Marcus Ericsson, 1:21.824, Day Three, Supersofts
With the striking new navy blue C36 providing a largely reliable base for Test One, Sauber were able to start working on set-up and aero work at Test One as they strive to ensure they don't replace Manor as F1's backmarker team in 2017.
Although faring well on the combined timesheet, Sauber's fastest lap on supersofts was two seconds off the ultimate pace, with plenty more progress needed in the final four days of the winter, particularly as they're the only team running a 2016 engine.
