The first of the Formula One winter test series have begun in Jerez, Spain last week. The F1 test at Jerez marks an important landmark in F1 where for the first time everyone gets to witness how the new 1.6L V6 turbocharged engines sounds and behaves like. However the unorthodox front nose from some teams has somehow obtained more attention than the new F1 engines.
The biggest beneficiary, however goes to the Mercedes AMG Petronas team, where despite the W05 car was not the fastest, they gained the most mileage during the test with 309 laps completed by the combined efforts of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The latter was the only driver on the grid that successfully ran a full race simulation. Mileage test is crucial for the teams so they can obtain the much needed data to fine tune the cars and the new engines for the upcoming F1 season.
The other Mercedes-powered teams fared well with McLaren and Williams raked significant laps, coupled with the fact that their cars topped the fastest times in three out of the four days of testing. McLaren’s rookie sensation, Kevin Magnussen,shocked everyone by becoming the fastest on day three with the fastest lap time of 1m23.276s. It was positives for Ferrari after 251 laps completed during the four day period, with Kimi Raikkonen topping the opening day of the test and Fernando Alonso second only to Rosberg in the mileage chart.
The biggest troubles, however went to the teams powered by Renault, and returning champions, Red Bull Racing had a miserable time at Jerez after clocking only 21 laps over the past four days. The Red Bull team was battling out with overheating issues on this year’s machine, the RB10, and their troubles got worsen by the mechanical gremlins from the Renault’s new V6 units. The honor of the best Renault-powered team goes to F1 backmarker, Caterham F1, who became Renault’s savior by clocking 76 laps, thanks to the bold efforts of F1 returnee, Kamui Kobayashi, who ran 54 laps during the last day of the test.
Overall, in the engine manufacturer standings, Mercedes has the overall advantage by clocking an amazing 875 laps, followed by Ferrari with 444 laps, while Renault completed a miserable 151 laps – a disadvantage unavoidable when Lotus F1 chose to skip the test. All teams and engine manufacturers will have only two weeks of endless work to compute and analyze trillions of data collected in order to eliminate all sorts of mechanical gremlins and improve their machines before the next test in Bahrain. Sure, the extra coffee beans and energy drinks will be useful for the teams in the coming weeks.
Combined times:
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Day
1. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.276s Thurs
2. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m23.700s +0.424s Thurs
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m23.952s +0.676s Thurs
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.165s +0.889s Weds
5. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m24.812s +1.536s Weds
6. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m25.344s +2.068s Weds
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.495s +2.219s Thurs
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.588s +2.312s Weds
9. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m26.096s +2.820s Thurs
10. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m28.376s +5.100s Weds
11. Daniel Juncadella Force India-Mercedes 1m29.457s +6.181s Fri
12. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m29.915s +6.639s Thurs
13. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m30.161s +6.885s Thurs
14. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m32.222s +8.946s Fri
15. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.270s +9.994s Weds
16. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m37.795s +14.519s Weds
17. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m38.820s +15.544s Weds
18. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m43.193s +19.917s Fri
19. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m44.016s +20.740s Fri
20. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m45.374s +22.098s Fri
21. Robin Frijns Caterham-Renault No time Thurs
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari No time Thurs
Mileage by driver
Driver Team Laps Kms
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 188 832
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 173 766
3. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 162 717
4. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 133 588
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 121 535
6. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 103 456
7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 83 367
8. Daniel Juncadella Force India-Mercedes 81 358
9. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 78 345
10. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 60 265
11. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 54 239
12. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 48 212
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 45 199
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 42 185
15. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 25 110
16. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 17 75
17. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 12 53
18. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 11 48
19. Robin Frijns Caterham-Renault 10 44
20. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 10 44
21. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 9 39
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 5 22
Mileage by team
1. Team Laps Kms
2. Mercedes 309 1368
3. Ferrari 251 1111
4. McLaren 245 1084
5. Williams 175 774
6. Sauber 163 721
7. Force India 146 646
8. Caterham 76 336
9. Toro Rosso 54 239
10. Marussia 30 132
11. Red Bull 21 92
Mileage by engine manufacturer
Engine Laps Kms
1. Mercedes 875 3874
2. Ferrari 444 1966
3. Renault 151 668
[Stats from Autosports]
