Testing times mean very little for racing

OKAY we’ll admit it, we’re suckers.

We’ll excitedly look at pictures of the cars for the new season, as if we have the foggiest idea of what the hell we’re looking at. Beyond the paint job one Formula 1 car looks pretty much like another to us.

Once upon a time you might have been able to discern which car might be quick on the basis of the old adage that if it looks quick it’ll run quick – the Jordan 191 looked the business and did the business on track too – but in the era of ever increasing aerodynamic sophistication that’s not necessarily the case any more.

And if that wasn’t bad enough we’ve been glued all week to reports from pre-season testing in Barcelona... as if that will tell us anything much about anything at all. The Ferrari looks quick, but what tyres were they running and with what kind of fuel load?

Were the conditions at the Circuit de Catalunya in anyway representative of what they’re going to be on a regular race weekend? Who’s sandbagging, who’s going for glory runs in the hope of attracting last-minute sponsors?

About the only thing we can learn from testing is who’s reliable and on the basis of the opening two days of testing Honda seems to have made a significant step forward over the winter months. Maybe McLaren jumped the gun and ditched the Japanese too soon?

Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t, even after two days of testing we won’t know for certain until later this month... and yet we still can’t help oursleves. Now what was that time again?