The Formula One off-season can feel like an eternity, and drivers finally turning their wheels will be a welcome sight for die-hards and tragics. Tragics like me, I guess.
It’s tempting to extrapolate the preliminary times and begin crafting scripts for the season ahead, make judgments about which team has improved and which drivers will have the edge, however to do so would be folly.
That’s not to say testing is little more than a chance for teams to reveal liveries and generate photo opportunities, but it’s not much more than that either from a fan’s perspective.
In lots of ways, it’s not about winning, but simply avoiding things going wrong.
After a lengthy development period, including an eyebrow-raising agreement to use Ferrari’s wind tunnel, Haas finally took to the track for the first time.
It was a relatively smooth running, apart from the front wing of the VF-16 falling off the car at 320 k/ph. Romain Grosjean seemed unphased by the failure, however the top speed of the car was limited while the engineers investigated.
“The way we were able to go out, do laps without having big problems – no leaks, no electrical failures,” he said afterwards. “There was the small issue with the front wing, but we understood the problem quickly and we will have it fixed for tomorrow.” In doing so, he was answering the implied question: Is Haas-Ferrari the new Mclaren-Honda?
Understandably there are a lot of eyes focused on Lewis Hamilton. Observers are gauging his preparedness and confirming whether, as we all suspect, the Briton’s Mercedes will again be the car to beat.
He put in far more laps than any other driver on the first day, which is an impressive feat unto itself and sets the bar for others to match.
His quickest lap time was ultimately topped by Sebastian Vettel, although all teams are still shaking things out and getting over the ‘first day back at school’ jitters. Vettel’s best time was still around two seconds off the ultimate pace from testing 12 months ago, so again it pays to exercise caution.
With only Sauber failing to make it on to the track – even Toro Rosso showed up with a clean-skin chassis, plastered with signs reading ‘Wet paint, don’t touch!’ – the field looks promising.
It’s been a few seasons since the heavily revised engine specifications were imposed, so hopefully everyone is well and truly fighting fit by the time we line up on the grid in Albert Park.
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