Categories: FeatureFeatures

The first test in numbers

The 2016 F1 season fired up in the familiar surroundings of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and gave us the first signs of this year's pecking order.

Ahead of an unprecedented 21-race season, the teams have only two tests in which to prepare their new cars ahead of the opening race in Australia on March 20. The initial efforts this week were a far cry from the first test of the last two years, with all 11 teams on track and getting in some significant running.

While lap times always come with the caveat of not providing the full picture when it comes to testing, there were some standout statistics from drivers and teams during the first test. Ferrari set the pace on three of the four days but was one of only two teams to run the new ultrasoft tyre in order to do so.

To that end, Nico Hulkenberg's time - the second quickest of the week, set on the supersoft tyre - was a strong indicator of further progress for Force India after its impressive end to 2015.

Mercedes only ran the medium compound tyre during the first test and so does not feature at the top of the times, but the team's incredible reliability even forced it to split driving duties between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg over the final two days.

Below are the combined fastest times from all four days of the test for each driver, including the tyres they posted their lap on. Only Jolyon Palmer and the aforementioned Hulkenberg - who had just one day in the VJM09 - failed to complete 100 laps during the week.

Pos Driver Team Time (tyres) Laps
1 S. Vettel Ferrari 1:22.810 (US) 195
2 N. Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:23.110 (SS) 99
3 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:23.477 (US) 158
4 D. Ricciardo Red Bull-TAG-Heuer 1:23.525 (US) 199
5 S. Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:23.650 (SS) 101
6 D. Kvyat Red Bull-TAG-Heuer 1:24.293 (US) 170
7 A. Celis Force India-Mercedes 1:24.840 (SS) 133
8 N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.867 (M) 332
9 M. Ericsson Sauber (2015)-Ferrari 1:25.237 (S) 196
10 K. Magnussen Renault Sport 1:25.263 (S) 264
11 M. Verstappen Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.393 (M) 231
12 L. Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.409 (M) 343
13 E. Gutiérrez Haas-Ferrari 1:25.524 (S) 168
14 V. Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:25.648 (S) 214
15 R. Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:25.874 (S) 113
16 P. Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes 1:25.925 (S) 125
17 F. Nasr Sauber (2015)-Ferrari 1:26.053 (S) 236
18 F. Alonso McLaren-Honda 1:26.082 (S) 122
19 J. Palmer Renault Sport 1:26.189 (S) 79
20 C. Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.239 (M) 216
21 F. Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:26.483 (S) 163
22 J. Button McLaren-Honda 1:26.735 (S) 135
23 R. Haryanto Manor-Mercedes 1:28.266 (S) 129

Tyres : US = ultrasoft, SS = supersoft, S = soft, M = medium, H = hard.

The team totals provide a more eye-catching statistic, with Mercedes clearly ahead of its rivals in terms of reliability and being able to focus on evaluating upgrades.

McLaren featured much higher in the standings after two days of running but a hydraulic leak on Wednesday was followed by a coolant leak on the final day which saw it miss out on significant running. Such problems for a big team highlights what an impressive job Haas did in its first test, with the new outfit completing more mileage than McLaren.

Below are the team totals, with teams ranked in terms of laps completed.

Pos Team Best time (tyres) Laps
1 Mercedes 1:24.867 (M) 675
2 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.393 (M) 447
3 Sauber (2015)-Ferrari 1:25.237 (S) 430
4 Williams-Mercedes 1:25.648 (S) 377
5 Red Bull-TAG-Heuer 1:23.525 (US) 369
6 Ferrari 1:22.810 (US) 352
7 Renault Sport 1:25.263 (S) 343
8 Force India-Mercedes 1:23.110 (SS) 333
9 Haas-Ferrari 1:25.524 (S) 281
10 McLaren-Honda 1:26.082 (S) 257
11 Manor-Mercedes 1:25.925 (S) 254

Tyres : US = ultrasoft, SS = supersoft, S = soft, M = medium, H = hard.

REPORT: Raikkonen fastest as McLaren completes just three laps

GALLERY: Pre-season testing

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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.

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