Barcelona Tests 1 – The Assessment of the Four Days

After Jerez, the F1 teams went to Barcelona for four days of testing. HRT was not present, but Marussia was, unlike in Jerez. On the innovation front, the Mercedes AMG team debuted its 2012 car, the F1 W03.

It should also be noted that the Lotus F1 team hardly ran in Barcelona, as they discovered a problem with chassis number 2 of the E20 that was being used. Romain Grosjean and Lotus therefore had to end their testing after only seven laps were covered on the first day, Tuesday.

In terms of performance and standings, we mostly find mid-field teams at the top of the timesheets: Sauber, Williams, and Force India. Kobayashi and the Swiss team indicated they worked on performance in Barcelona, which partly explains this good form displayed.

Behind these three stables, we find the teams that should, in principle, play leading roles in 2012 as was the case in 2011: Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes AMG.

The ranking of the best laps by driver for Barcelona Test 1

On the laps covered side, we realize that there are sometimes significant differences between two teammates – this is notably the case between Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado. The Brazilian drove for only one day and covered only 97 laps, compared to the Venezuelan who drove for two days and covered 240 laps.

The most diligent driver on track was Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel of the Sauber C31. The Japanese driver completed 244 laps – nearly 4 times the number of laps completed during the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix (66). Both McLaren drivers, Hamilton and Button, also rank well in this list, having performed numerous race simulations, which explains the large number of laps covered.

In 5th place of this ranking of the most diligent drivers on the track, we find Charles Pic who made his grand debut as an official driver for the Marussia team. The Frenchman was only able to drive for two days instead of three—he didn’t drive yesterday due to a suspension problem, but that didn’t prevent him from covering the impressive number of 229 laps. This allowed him to gain experience and prepare for all the procedures he will have to follow during the 2012 season.

The single-seater worked very well all day (Tuesday) so we were able to complete the planned program. We also did a lot of pit stops and practiced all the procedures, which was a great help for me, and we also did a race simulation. I learned a lot, Pic said on Tuesday at the end of his first day of testing.

Ranking of the number of laps completed by driver during Barcelona Test 1

By adding up the laps completed by each team, McLaren is at the top of the standings. The team from Woking is slightly ahead of Williams, which did a lot of laps both in Barcelona and Jerez. As in Jerez, Ferrari and Red Bull find themselves in the middle of the ranking for the number of laps completed.

At the bottom of the standings, we logically find the Lotus F1 team which could only cover 7 laps on Tuesday during the first day of testing before discovering a problem with the E20 driven by Grosjean.

Laps covered per team during Barcelona testing 1

What is also interesting to observe is the number of laps covered by the teams with their 2012 cars. We notice that Marussia and HRT are at the bottom of the list, which makes sense because these two teams have not yet unveiled their 2012 cars and have therefore been running with the 2011 cars for the moment.

At the bottom of the standings, we also find Lotus F1 and Mercedes AMG, which is logical because in Jerez, Mercedes was running with its 2011 car and in Barcelona, Lotus was unable to participate in the tests.

We can also notice that Williams is the team that has driven the most with its 2012 car, the Grove team is ahead of McLaren, Force India, and Sauber. These four teams have experienced few issues with their cars so far, allowing them to do a lot of laps.

These teams are also the ones that have conducted several race simulations in Barcelona, which explains the large number of laps completed since the start of pre-season testing.

Laps covered by team with the 2012 single-seaters since the beginning of private testing

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The next pre-season testing session will also take place in Barcelona. It will be held from March 1 to 4 and should be the occasion to see the HRT F112 and Marussia MR01 make their track debuts. It is also worth noting that Red Bull and Ferrari have decided to change their testing dates; both teams will also run for four days at the Circuit de Catalunya, but from March 2 to 5.

See also: Le bilan des essais de Jerez 2012.