THE CHAOS AND INTRIGUE OF TESTING
Spins, loose wheels, politics and snow – the irst on-track action of F1 2018 was anything but dull
have expanded its range of compounds for the 2018 season but it stopped short of a winter tyre. Shame, since the first 2018 test in Barcelona in late February was bitterly cold, with rain and flurries of snow. Grip? Not so much. Drivers complained of wheelspin in fifth gear.
But the conditions were the same for everyone and, as expected, it was last year’s top three that headed the time sheets. Red Bull ‘won’ day one, the Ferraris were the cars to beat at times and the Silver Arrows – clearly sand-bagging to disguise their true pace – set the fastest lap of the final day, with champion Hamilton at the wheel. This is a worry. The new Merc engine is a step forward over last year: powerful and reliable, it’s already been to the moon and back on the dyno.
Sadly for Red Bull and McLaren (and Renault), the same cannot be said of the re-worked Renault unit: all three Renault-powered teams have been told that they’ll start the new season with the same power output with which they finished last year. You can well imagine Christian Horner’s delight…
Appropriately for F1, there were simmering tensions between the teams within 48 hours of them assembling. A request to extend the test by a day, to catch some improved weather, was thwarted by Williams. They had a filming day booked and refused to budge it. How very selfish; how very Formula 1.
When the talking stopped and the cars hit the track, however, the magic was there. 2018’s cars are fast. Even the Williams, its infamously tricky rear end tamed, rampaged through Barcelona’s spectacular, ultra-quick corners.
Roll on Melbourne.
THE 2018 CARS ARE FAST. EVEN THE WILLIAMS, ITS INFAMOUSLY TRICKY REAR END TAMED, RAMPAGED THROUGH BARCELONA’S ULTRAQUICK CORNERS