What we learnt from the Jerez Test

A team-by-team review of the first test of the winter...

A new five-element front wing was introduced for Day Three, but it was noticeable that the W04 continued to lose time relative to its peers in the middle sector of the lap where downforce is key. Plenty of work still to be done then. Lotus
The fact that Lotus topped the timesheets on two of the four days at Jerez was probably that rarest of things: a welcome accident in F1. According to Technical Director James Allison, the E21 carried "plenty of petrol throughout the test", and an element of pleasant surprise was detectable in his concluding remark: "And yet we've shown a decent turn of speed." Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen rated the E21 as a clear improvement on the E20, although the new car wasn't particularly busy: despite Mercedes' time-consuming early difficulties, the E21 completed 50 fewer laps than the W04 over the course of the four days. Sauber
Quietly impressive. New recruit Nico Hulkenberg reckons the aesthetically-delightful C32 is definitely a "fast car" and retains the high-speed cornering hallmarks of its predecessor. As with the Red Bull, the C32 wasn't handicapped by any discernible reliability problems, with both of the car's two on-track stoppages caused by fuel-depletion checks, while Esteban Gutierrez was able to complete a 55-lap race simulation across four stints on Friday, comparing tyre performance over long runs. Force India
The VJM06 could succinctly be summarised as a tidied-up version of last year's Force India and the team's position at Jerez looked to be what you'd expect to materialise from that conservative evolution: better but not ground-breaking. Of greatest interest was Jules Bianchi's performance on Friday when the Ferrari protege seemingly strengthened his claim for a race seat by setting the second-fastest time of the day. Qualy-style runs are reputed to be a weakness in Bianchi's armoury, and his lap of 1:18.175 was set on a very short run - and his last of the day. Was it good enough to land the young Frenchman the final remaining race seat for 2013? Williams
Only time will tell if Williams' decision to delay the introduction of the FW35 until Barcelona is the right decision or not. Their rationale is easily appreciable, with the team running fuel loads in the FW34 throughout the test to collect a raft of data about the new Pirelli tyres and 2013 development parts from a known base. But it can't but be wondered: if Williams' strategy was really such a good idea, wouldn't a few of the other teams have tried it as well? Toro Rosso
Is there far more to the STR8 than meets the eye? According to Jean-Eric Vergne, who seems rather enamoured with his new office, the car features "massive changes" compared to its predecessors. To the naked eye, any such transformation isn't apparent, although the timesheets at least suggested a step forward. Quite how large that step is, along with the extent of the changes made to the STR8, is rather harder to determine. Caterham
Whereas the majority of the rest of the field are planning on updates for the Barcelona test, the word about Caterham is that their next major upgrade is being built for the race at Barcelona in mid-May. Quite the contrast. The impression persists of a team in transition, with their presence only really felt in Barcelona due to an exhaust filter which, after a reputed query from Lotus about its legality, was removed on Friday. Marussia
It's a question of perspective. While Marussia's full participation in this week's test will sound like a matter of little consequence, it amounted to a big step forward for the team itself. As they themselves tweeted: 'Today we leave the first of three pre-season tests with 1000kms in the bag...As we left for Australia in 2012 we had a mere 100kms on our package!'. The lap times weren't especially noteworthy, but this week's test also marked Marussia's first use of the KERS system. Slowly but surely, genuine progress is underway. The week's fastest times, per team
1:17.879 - Ferrari, Felipe Massa, soft tyres.
1:18.148 - Lotus, Kimi Raikkonen, soft tyres.
1:18.175 - Force India, Jules Bianchi, soft tyres.
1:18.565 - Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel, hard tyres.
1:18.669 - Sauber, Esteban Gutierrez, soft tyres.
1:18.760 - Toro Rosso, Jean-Eric Vergne, soft tyres.
1:18.766 - Mercedes, Nico Rosberg, soft tyres.
1:18.861 - McLaren - Jenson Button, hard tyres.
1:19.851 - Williams, Valtteri Bottas, 2012 car.
1:21.269 - Marussia, Max Chilton, soft tyres.
1:21.311 - Caterham, Giedo Van der Garde, soft tyres.