F1: Five things we learned from the first full test

The first of two pre-season F1 tests has finished at the Circuit de Catalunya, with teams using the event in Spain to collect as much data as possible before the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne next month.

With just 64 hours of running time available before the real racing begins, the drivers aren’t given long to get used to their new machines.

Half of that time has now passed, with the second four-day shakedown due to take place next week, again in Barcelona.

While the timesheets do little to reveal the current pecking order in terms of pace, the number of laps completed does give an indication of where teams stand in terms of reliability.

And if this week has proven anything, it’s that the gulf between some of the teams on that front is rather big...

Many hoped that Ferrari (or just anyone, really) would be able to close the gap to Mercedes, but there’s no definitive evidence so far that they’ve managed to do so.

Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen have said that the SF16-H is already better than last year’s model, a point proven by the fact that both drivers have posted quicker lap times than at any point during the Spanish GP weekend in 2015.

But despite generally being quicker than the Mercs, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have pounded round the circuit all week with virtually no problems whatsoever.

The pair clocked more miles than anyone else with a whopping total of 675 laps, equating to a distance of about 3,142km. The progress was so good by the end of day two, the team decided to reduce their drivers’ workload to half-day stints to avoid exhaustion.

And while they didn’t quite top the timesheets, Rosberg says Mercedes are “still holding back”. Yikes.

Plenty of eyes were on McLaren after their disastrous 2015, during which the team scored just 27 championship points over the course of the entire year.

Reports over the winter have suggested that Honda had made big gains with their engine, although these were subsequently played down.

So where are they in terms of performance? The truth is, we don’t know for sure. The first two days of running were decent after Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso totalled 84 and 199 laps apiece, although days three and four were hindered by technical issues.

While the McLaren chassis is thought to be quite good, Honda’s engine still appears to be lacking a significant amount of horsepower.

Reliability was a massive problem last year, but at least this week’s hiccups haven’t been caused by the engine exploding. Which is progress.

Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg come into 2016 knowing it will be tricky to repeat their fifth place finish in the constructors' championship after a strong end to last season, but initial running for the duo has been promising.

Both drivers have been among the fastest this week (topping the standings on Wednesday), while development driver Alfonso Celis also got in on the act with the third quickest time on Thursday.

In reality of course the times mean very little, with Hulkenberg himself warning against getting “too excited in these early stages.”

Force India covered 333 laps over the four days, comparing well with Red Bull and Renault who managed 367 and 343 respectively.

Toro Rosso meanwhile were second only to Mercedes in terms of distance covered, with 447 laps completed by the STR11.

Once again, it looks like the midfield will host most of the action this year...

For new teams, the first few days of testing are normally a turbulent affair as little foibles and shortcomings become apparent. Not so for the US outfit.

Yes Romain Grosjean needed a replacement front wing on the first day, but in spite of the early failure Haas have put together a decent programme having completed 281 laps.

That’s more than McLaren did over twelve days of testing in the run-up to last season.

Whereabouts on the grid they’re likely to feature is another question, although Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez have set similar times to the Sauber pairing of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson so far.

An interesting battle may be brewing.

On Wednesday news broke that F1 may be getting a new ‘knockout’ qualifying format in time for the start of the season, designed to make grids a bit less predictable and races more exciting.

The reaction among drivers and fans has been mixed to say the least, with some saying that the move doesn’t address the things that are fundamentally wrong with the sport at present.

In better news, there are murmurings that Pirelli will be asked to make a faster tyre for 2017 in an attempt to make cars significantly quicker when the new regulations come into force.

A five-second lap gain had been the initial target, although this was reduced to three seconds after Pirelli said the current compounds would struggle to handle the extra downforce.

If drivers have racier, more durable rubber at their disposal next year, that figure might now go up again.

With progress made on bodywork dimensions, head protection and engine costs in the last few days, the direction F1 is headed in seemingly changes by the hour.

As former driver Martin Brundle put it: “’Future F1’ needs a masterplan, not bubble bursts of random ideas that find a way through the many faceted and largely impenetrable systems.”

Preach.