5 Talking Points Ahead of Formula 1's 3rd Test in Barcelona
Two-thirds of Formula One's 2015 pre-season schedule has been completed, leaving the teams and drivers with just four full days of testing ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 15.
After kicking off their winter preparations at the Jerez circuit at the beginning of February, the F1 fraternity moved on to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for last week's second test, and it will remain at the home of the Spanish Grand Prix for the final test, which begins on Thursday.
In truth, testing has thrown up few surprises so far, as Mercedes, the reigning world champions, remain the team to beat, and the usual suspects, such as Williams, continue to look strong.
Nevertheless, there is no shortage of talking points ahead of the third pre-season test, five of which are featured here.
Will We See Mercedes' True Pace Before Australia?
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Having spent the opening stages of winter testing just racking up the miles, Mercedes offered a hint of their outright speed on the final day of the first Barcelona test.
On a set of medium tyres, Nico Rosberg set a best time of one minute, 24.321 seconds, which was within three-tenths of the top-of-the-time-sheet lap set by Romain Grosjean, whose Lotus was fitted with the much faster super-soft compound.
Although Rosberg went on to tell Autosport's Ben Anderson and Jonathan Noble that the time was nothing special "according to our numbers," the significance of the lap should not be underestimated.
As per Nate Saunders of ESPN F1, the German's effort was "roughly a second faster than Lewis Hamilton's pole position time on medium tyres at last year's Spanish Grand Prix, but unlike Hamilton's was set on used tyres and most likely with a heavier fuel load."
Add to that the uncertainty over whether the engine was operating at full power, as well as the difference in conditions—Hamilton's pole time was set in the favourable conditions of mid-May, whereas Rosberg's was recorded on a windy afternoon in mid-February—and you begin to wonder just how big an advantage Mercedes will have over their rivals in 2015.
A good indication, of course, would come if either Hamilton or Rosberg bolted on a set of super softs and performed a low-fuel, qualifying simulation in the final test.
But why bother?
Why give your nearest rivals a target to hit? Why not hide your true pace until the first race and hit them cold by qualifying at the front by a second or more?
It's almost certain that Mercedes have the fastest car again this season, and it'll be fascinating to see if the reigning world champions finally show their hand this week.
Huge Pressure on McLaren-Honda to Get on Top of Reliability Issues
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Having completed 79 laps in the opening test at Jerez, McLaren-Honda could only manage 124 in the first Barcelona test, as their pre-season preparations turned disastrous.
MGU-K failures were at the root of the team's failure to build upon a steady start to the winter, with the team confirming on its website that two separate seals on the energy recovery system had failed inside the opening three days.
Fernando Alonso's bizarre accident on the final day added insult to injury, as the team's progress was halted yet again, with McLaren now facing a race against time to get their car running reliably ahead of the first grand prix of the year.
The team's decision to waste both their permitted "filming days" ahead of the second test, as per Sky Sports, as opposed to waiting until the end of pre-season to conduct some bonus running, leaves McLaren with just four days of testing to sort out the niggling problems which have tarnished their preparations.
Red Bull's decision to utilise their filming days in Bahrain after the final test of 2014, as reported by The F1 Times, almost certainly played a role in allowing the four-time world champions to recover from a disastrous pre-season in time for the first race. But McLaren have denied themselves a similar luxury.
And that places huge importance on the final test if the team are to race with any competitiveness in Australia, especially after racing director Eric Boullier told ESPN F1 mid-way through the second test that McLaren "are 50% behind on our plan."
Will Fernando Alonso Be Passed Fit to Drive?
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Concerns over the well-being of Fernando Alonso were extinguished to some extent on Monday when the driver's manager, Luis Garcia Abad, tweeted an image of the two-time world champion smiling from a hospital bed.
But it is currently unclear whether Alonso, who according to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson suffered concussion in a crash at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last Sunday, will be able to participate in the final pre-season test this week.
McLaren confirmed that Alonso is making a "solid recovery" after CT and MRI scans performed on the driver produced positive results, but the team added that although they "intend to give him every opportunity to make a rapid and complete recovery," they will "evaluate in due course" whether the Spaniard can an instant return to action.
Abad, meanwhile, told reporters (h/t motorsport.com) that Alonso will stay in hospital "for the time we need to be sure everything is right," admitting that he wasn't sure whether it would take "one, two or three days more."
Missing the final test could prove costly for Alonso, particularly if McLaren do somehow manage to resolve their reliability issues and are able to run the MP4-30 in anger for the first time and Jenson Button, the Spaniard's team-mate, is able to get a true feel for the Honda-powered car.
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How Will the New Force India Fare Against the Opposition?
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After missing the first test at Jerez, Force India brought their 2014 car along to Barcelona as the team evaluated the new Pirelli tyres.
The Silverstone-based outfit's delayed winter schedule meant that Nico Hulkenberg, arguably Force India's star driver, had to wait until the final day of the first Barcelona test to make his first appearance of the pre-season.
However, with a team representative previously telling Sky Sports' William Esler that the 2015 car will finally arrive in time for the final test, this week should mark an acceleration in Force India's winter preparations.
How the VJM08, after missing two-thirds of testing, will fare against cars that have been on track from the very start of the winter remains a mystery, though.
Lotus, after all, never recovered after missing just one test in 2014, and there is a possibility that Force India's 2015 season could head in a similar direction. However, the fact that the regulations have remained relatively stable this year should give the team a much stronger chance of making up for lost time.
And with a Mercedes power unit—the best engine in the business—at their disposal, as well as the use of the Toyota wind tunnel to develop their new car, Force India may be in a better position than some may think.
Where Do Williams Figure in the Competitive Order?
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Like Mercedes, Williams have only offered mere clues when it comes to showcasing their true speed in pre-season.
And quite where the Grove-based team stand in the competitive order is arguably the biggest mystery ahead of the third test.
On Day 2 of the second test, Felipe Massa provided a slight hint of Williams' pace, finishing third on the time sheets with a fastest lap of 1:24.672, which was within one-tenth of both Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.
The fact that all three times were set on the soft tyres, according to Pirelli Motorsport, all but confirmed that Williams will again be in the mix when the season gets underway.
But exactly where do they stand?
Have they consolidated their position as "best of the rest" behind Mercedes? Or have they fallen into the grasp, or even slipped slightly behind, Ferrari and Red Bull?
Hopefully that will become much clearer in the final test.
All lap times in this article, unless stated, have been taken from the official Formula One website.
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