Categories: FeatureFeatures

The first test in numbers

The first pre-season test saw plenty of running for the majority of the eight teams present, and Ferrari topping the times.

Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time of the week - a 1:20.841 - on the soft compound tyres, while his new team-mate Sebastian Vettel was second quickest and only 0.1s slower than Raikkonen despite setting his time on the mediums.

Last year, the first four days of testing the new V6 turbo power units saw 1,470 laps completed in total, with Kevin Magnussen posting the fastest time for McLaren with a 1:23.276.

Comparing that with the start of 2015, a total of 2,294 laps were completed this week with Nico Rosberg managing 308 of those alone. With lap times 2.4s faster and 50% more laps completed, it highlights the progress made in one year with the new regulations.

Each team has 135 sets of tyres for pre-season testing, with two more tests to follow at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona from February 19-22 and February 26-March 1.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	K. Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:20.841	200
2	S. Vettel	Ferrari	1:20.984	149
3	F. Nasr	Sauber-Ferrari	1:21.545	197
4	N. Rosberg	Mercedes	1:21.982	308
5	M. Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:22.019	185
6	L. Hamilton	Mercedes	1:22.172	208
7	F. Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:22.276	144
8	V. Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:22.319	134
9	M. Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:22.553	170
10	P. Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes	1:22.713	137
11	C. Sainz	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:23.187	183
12	D. Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1:23.338	84
13	R. Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes	1:23:802	53
14	D. Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	1:23.975	82
15	J. Button	McLaren-Honda	1:27.660	41
16	F. Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:35.553	38

While some teams were enjoying an encouraging first test, the returning Honda power unit saw limited mileage as Red Bull again struggled at Jerez. The Lotus mileage was solid, however, for a team which didn't even have a car at the circuit until Sunday night.

Pos	Team	Best time	Laps
1	Mercedes	1:21.982	516
2	Sauber-Ferrari	1:21.545	382
3	Toro Rosso-Renault	1:22.553	353
4	Ferrari	1:20.841	349
5	Williams-Mercedes	1:22.276	278
6	Lotus-Mercedes	1:22.713	190
7	Red Bull-Renault	1:23.338	166
8	McLaren-Honda	1:27.660	79

Click here for the full final day gallery from the Jerez test

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.