Barcelona 1 in figures: Ferrari and Mercedes on pace, McLaren fragile

Yesterday evening at the end of the first salvo of the Barcelona winter tests in Catalonia, Eric Boullier, competition director of Mclaren racing admitted his surprise as to the performance of the Ferrari SF70H.

From a purely accounting point of view, Ferrari has indeed succeeded in its debut for the first appearance on track of its latest creation, meeting the brand new technical regulations introduced for 2017.

Si Valtteri Bottas concluded the week with the absolute best time in 1'19″705, the Finnish pilot of Mercedes signed the benchmark in ultra-soft tires, when Sebastian Vettel established the second performance in 1'19"952 on soft tires. Times to put into perspective compared to the poles of 2015 (1'24″681) and 2016 (1'22″000).

The other reason for satisfaction, and undoubtedly the most important at the moment for Ferrari, is the reliability encountered by its Power Unit V6 turbo / hybrid, of which the different blocks covered the most mileage with nearly 5400 km (counting the 2016 Sauber block).

On this same statistic, Mercedes engines remain in the immediate wake of Ferrari with 4883 km on the clock. The reigning three-time world champion team, however, experienced electrical problems yesterday on the W08 during the morning's running on a wet track.

Sauber and Haas also confirm the good performance of the transalpine engine, despite an alert in the Swiss clan on Tuesday with a change of Power Unit on the car by Antonio Giovinazzi.

Behind the Ferrari-Mercedes duo, Red Bull and Renault Sport F1 Team finished neck and neck in terms of performance and covered laps. Red Bull Racing However, the first day was disrupted by battery and sensor issues. For Renault, the French team will have to review the design of its rear wing, as requested by the FIA.

With track time shared by three drivers, the Force India residents logically appear in the second part of the table in terms of kilometers traveled. Esteban Ocon experienced an oil leak on Tuesday, which according to the French driver, did not cause him to lose much driving time, while Sergio Pérez encountered an exhaust problem on the first day.

To Lance stroll, the discovery of the new single-seaters was not the easiest, with two track exits leading to long absences of the FW40 on the Catalan track. The Canadian forced Williams to send composite parts back to the factory, effectively missing on Tuesday afternoon, before his Wednesday outing forced Grove to announce his withdrawal for Thursday, damaged chassis.

McLaren and Toro Rosso appear to be the two formations which suffered the most in Catalonia. For Woking, the Honda Power Unit V6 turbo/hybrid again experienced reliability issues, with an oil tank issue on the first day for Fernando Alonso, and a loss of power for Stoffel Vandoorne. The situation has improved slightly over the last two days, but the Woking drivers have covered less than 1000 km.

Situation also complicated at Toro Rosso, which leaves this first session with the lowest mileage (851 km), largely due to the engine change on Thursday.

Barcelona 1 test figures:

Best rounds

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1’19″705 – Ultra-soft
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1’19″952 – Soft
Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 1’20″960 – Soft
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1’20″983 – Super-soft
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1’21″153 – Soft
Jolyon Palmer (Renault) 1’21″396 – Soft
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1’21″769 – Soft
Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 1’21″791 – Soft
Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 1’21″824 – Super-soft
Felipe Massa (Williams) 1’22″076 – Soft
Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1’22″118 – Supersoft
Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1’22″204 – Supersoft
Lance Stroll (Williams) 1’22″351 – Soft
Antonio Giovinazzi (Sauber) 1’22″401 – Ultra-soft
Esteban Ocon (Force India) 1’22″509 – Super-soft
Sergio Pérez (Force India) 1’22″534 – Super-soft
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) 1’22″576 – Ultra-soft
Fernando Alonso (McLaren) 1’22″598 – Ultra-soft
Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1’22″956 – Soft
Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 1’23″540 – Mediums
Alfonso Celis Jr (Force India) 1’23″568 – Ultra-soft

Laps per driver

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes): 324
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari): 267
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): 234
Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari): 201
Marcus Ericsson (Sauber): 198
Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 174
Romain Grosjean (Haas): 174
Kevin Magnussen (Haas): 169
Antonio Giovinazzi (Sauber): 151
Nico Hülkenberg (Renault): 150
Jolyon Palmer (Renault): 143
Sergio Pérez (Force India): 121
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): 120
Lance Stroll (Williams): 110
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren): 107
Felipe Massa (Williams): 103
Fernando Alonso (McLaren): 101
Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso): 100
Esteban Ocon (Force India): 86
Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso): 83
Alfonso Celis Jr (Force India): 71

Tours per stable

Mercedes: 558
Ferrari: 468
Sauber: 349
Haas: 343
Red Bull: 294
Renault: 293
Force India: 278
Williams: 213
McLaren: 208
Toro Rosso: 183

Tours by engine manufacturer

Ferrari: 1160 (including the 2016 Sauber block)
Mercedes: 1049
Renault: 770
Honda: 208

Mileage per driver

Valtteri Bottas: 1508,22
Sebastian Vettel: 1242,885
Lewis Hamilton: 1089,27
Kimi Raikkonen: 935,655
Marcus Ericsson: 921,69
Max Verstappen: 809,97
Romain Grosjean: 809,97
Kevin Magnussen: 786,695
Antonio Giovinazzi: 702,905
Nico Hulkenberg: 698,25
Jolyon Palmer: 665,665
Sergio Pérez: 563,255
Daniel Ricciardo: 558,6
Lance Stroll: 512,65
Stoffel Vandoorne: 498,085
Felipe Massa: 479,465
Fernando Alonso: 470,155
Daniil Kvyat: 465,5
Esteban Ocon: 400,33
Carlos Sainz: 386,365
Alfonso Celis Jr: 330,505

Mileage per stable

Mercedes: 2597,49
Ferrari: 2178,54
Sauber: 1624,595
Haas: 1596,665
Red Bull: 1368,57
Renault: 1363,915
Force India: 1294,09
Williams: 991,515
McLaren: 968,24
Toro Rosso: 851,865

Mileage by engine manufacturer

Ferrari: 5399,8 (including the 2016 Sauber block)
Mercedes: 4883,095
Renault: 3584,35
Honda: 968,24

Find the full report of the first tests in Barcelona, ​​in issue 2104 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday March 6 in digital version, and from Wednesday March 8 on newsstands. Our F1 AUTO Guidehebdo 2017 is also available in digital version and on newsstands.