Pre-Season Testing – Statistics: Mercedes ahead on mileage, Ferrari on the clock

After drawing the first lessons from the winter tests, Motorsinside now provides you with the important statistics to remember from these eight days of testing.

First and foremost, let’s focus on the number of kilometers and laps covered by each team:

We notice that the most diligent team on the track is none other than the reigning triple world champion team, Mercedes, with no less than 5,102 kilometers or 1,096 laps. Just behind, we find Ferrari at a reasonable distance with 4,450 kilometers covered, amounting to 956 laps in total.

Somewhat behind, Williams managed to make up for the delay caused by some rookie mistakes from Lance Stroll in the first week. Result: 3,724 kilometers, or 800 laps. As for the rest of the pack, Sauber is quite close (3,668 km, 788 laps), followed by Force India (3,654 km, 785 laps), Haas (3,328 km, 715 laps), Red Bull (3,184 km, 684 laps), Renault (2,779 km, 597 laps), Toro Rosso (2,719 km, 584 laps). On the McLaren side, the Honda engine caused many lost hours of driving with 1,978 kilometers and 425 laps.

Only one team clocked 1,000+ laps during #F1Testing

👏 @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/8H7KX8P9Za

— Formula 1 (@F1) 10 mars /f1/actualite/21762-essais-pre-saison-barcelone-quavons-nous-appris.html

Regarding engines, it is logically the teams powered by Mercedes (Mercedes, Williams, and Force India) that have driven the most (12,480 kilometers), relying on an incredibly reliable engine. The mileage is quite close between the Renault power unit (8,682 kilometers) and that of Ferrari (7,778 kilometers). But the reality is concealed by the smaller number of teams using the Ferrari engine (Ferrari and Haas) compared to three for Renault (Renault, Red Bull, and Toro Rosso). Reliability is very good on Ferrari’s side, but Renault engines have encountered more problems which should be resolved by Melbourne according to Rémi Taffin, head of the engine department of the brand.

Sauber is fourth with its 2016 Ferrari engine (3,668 kilometers) perfectly on track. On the other hand, the situation is alarming for Honda with recurring problems (1,978 kilometers) that did not allow McLaren to be well prepared for the first race of this season.

Now it is interesting to study the lap times achieved by each driver:

If not already out for a crazy Friday night, enjoy full results of @Circuitcat_cat #F1Testing and @Mario_Isola note 👉https://t.co/QSgMt15Pwg pic.twitter.com/Xmwnp5o1ET

— Pirelli Motorsport (@Pirellisport) 10 mars /f1/actualite/21762-essais-pre-saison-barcelone-quavons-nous-appris.html

Although it is necessary to take the times with a grain of salt as the amounts of onboard fuel are unknown, and it is impossible to know if the engines were pushed to full throttle, let’s analyze the laps driver by driver. To see all the times, the compound used, and the day on which the time was set (see the third image of the previous tweet).

At the top of the timesheet, we find the two Ferrari drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel just ahead of the two Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. It should be noted that the times set by the two Finnish drivers were on Super Soft tires, compared to Ultra Soft tires for Vettel and Hamilton. Further down, another Mercedes engine with Felipe Massa. Just behind is a group of cars equipped with Renault power units, namely Max Verstappen in his Red Bull, Carlos Sainz for Toro Rosso, Nico Hülkenberg in his Renault, and then Daniel Ricciardo with his Red Bull.

Next, the two Force India drivers are quite close. Finally, we find Jolyon Palmer (Renault), Lance Stroll (Williams), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren), Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber) and finally Antonio Giovinazzi who only participated in two sessions for Sauber replacing Wehrlein, then Alfonso Celis who only had one day with Force India.

This group of single-seaters, relatively distanced by the Mercedes and Ferraris, should be very close to each other. This promises a fierce battle in the midfield, while the front-runners, to which the Red Bull drivers could be added, would compete for the victory.