The Formula One Circus Rolls into Barcelona for F1 2011's 3rd Preseason Test

The order of venues selected for Formula 1’s preseason tests seem pretty odd to me. The first test took place in Valencia on Spain’s East coast, then the F1 circus packed its bags and travelled approximately 500 miles to Jerez in the country’s southwestern region. 

For the third preseason test, the teams have travelled over 600 miles back across Spain to Barcelona (about 200 miles from Valencia).  What a waste of money and time! Especially in these cash strapped times!

Anyway, that’s just a personal rant.  However they got there, F1’s third test was carried out at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.  After two interesting events, the test in Catalunya promised much...but did it deliver?  

After a relatively quiet test in Jerez, Red Bull Racing began Barcelona’s test with a bang. The day looked as though it would belong to local hero Fernando Alonso, but a late run from Sebastian Vettel spoilt the home fans day when he piped the Ferrari driver’s 1:25.485 by just under a second with a time of 1:24.374. 

The first day began with a wet track.  In these conditions Toro Rosso’s Jamie Alguersuai and Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi held the top positions and put in decent times.  Torro Rosso continued to do well in the afternoon as they carried out brake evaluations.  The team finished the day in a very respectable third.

Meanwhile, Sauber’s afternoon took a bit of a negative hit when a mechanical problem cost them valuable track time.  Despite this, the team was happy with their tire evaluations and the fact that they managed to finish in P4.

Red Bull’s day could have turned out very differently as they took a small risk choosing to test the intermediate Pirelli tires a little earlier than perhaps they should have done.  The conditions weren’t quite right and Vettel had a few small offs.  This meant that the team lost time in the afternoon extensively checking the car for issues (these checks were precautionary, and the car was eventually found to be fine). 

Ferrari continued their very promising start by successfully managing to complete all their objectives and finished second, all whilst experiencing no technical issues. 

Jenson Button’s McLaren MP4-26 finished the day in P5.  Perhaps this was a little disappointing but the team seemed pleased with a "solid" day's testing.

Force India and Williams both suffered stunted first days.  Paul di Resta had to wait for parts to arrive before he could take to the track, but P6 on a limited run was an encouraging result.  Rubens Barrichello’s day was also late to start due to a precautionary engine change, but  P7 was also a good finishing position.

Michael Schumacher finished eighth for Mercedes.  Not a disaster, but not exactly amazing either—sums up Mercedes quite well I think.

HRT, Lotus, and Virgin were happy with their performances, Narain Karthikeyan finished ninth for HRT, Heikki Kovalainen closed out the top 10, and Jerome d’Ambrosio showed great promise in his car to end up 11th.

Renault ran with both drivers but a KERS issue practically ruined the day's testing for Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld who mainly practiced pit stops and Renault’s new traffic light system. 

For the second day in a row, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel topped the sheets in Barcelona. Red Bull had a few small technical issues, but they were able to put in more laps than the first day and were pretty pleased with themselves at the end of day two.

It was another great day for Alguersari and his Toro Roso team too as the young driver finished in a very encouraging P2.  A great start for Toro Roso then as 2011’s midfield looks evermore like the best in years!

Ferrari continued their positive tests with Fernando Alonso finishing in the top three yet again.  Ferrari experienced their first few problems on the second day in Barcelona, (minor electrical and mechanical issues), but they were still more than happy with their progress thus far.

Williams continued to develop well with another strong finish for Rubens Barrichello in fourth. After a few issues on the first day, Renault came back stronger for day two.  Nick Heidfeld continued to impress by finishing fifth, and whilst Petrov could only finish P11, the team seemed satisfied with their day's work.

Sauber and Mercedes had a pretty average second day.  Kamui Kobayashi finished sixth for Sauber and Nico Rosberg was seventh. 

McLaren’s stunted start to 2011 continued to hit stumbling blocks as Jenson Button’s final day in the car was hit with hydraulics failure in the morning and then again in the afternoon session.  Button was disappointed to be in P8, but he was more concerned with his team’s relative lack of track time.

Force India, Lotus, HRT and Virgin all had a pretty clean and average day two.  Paul di Resta finished P9 for Force India and Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the top 10 with his Lotus.  Vitantonio Liuzzi had a positive day in his HRT car and was happy enough with P12 despite a few gear troubles.

Timo Glock finished P13 for Virgin and rookie Ricardo Teixeira finished in P14 in his first drive for Lotus.

Day three belonged to Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes GP.  Like day one, the third day of testing began with a wet morning session and ended with a dry afternoon.

Rosberg seemed to be happy with his car, but conceded that there was still work to do.
Vitaly Petrov finished second, once again showing the potential of the Renault R31.  I know I keep saying this, but I really think we might have one of the best midfields in a very long time!

After a disappointing Barcelona test for Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton had much more joy in the McLaren.  The car suffered a few small mechanical faults, but finished well in third. 

Pastor Maldonado was able to give his Williams team more to smile about when he finished in fourth.

Red Bull may have had very positive opening days to the test, but their third day was hindered by the wet conditions.  Mark Webber was forced to adapt to the team’s new objectives, but was pleased with fifth. 

Ferrari were also struggling a little in the wet in the morning as Felipe Massa could only finish tenth after a few offs.  However, Ferrari were still happy with the F150th Italia and comfortably completed a race simulation in the afternoon.   

Jarno Trulli  finished sixth for Lotus, but the team was hampered by technical issues.  Like Red Bull, Sauber had to change their planned strategy to adapt to the whether; still, seventh for Sergio Perez was more than welcome.  

Force India, Torro Roso, Virgin and HRT all had a positive third day.  Adrian Sutil was pleased with eighth,  Sebastian Buemi finished his run for Toro Roso in ninth, and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo ended the day in P13.  Virgin’s Timo Glock had a strong day and finished P11 and HRT ran with Giorgio Mondini and Narain Karthikeyan, finishing P12 and P14 respectively.  

It was Ferrari who finished Barcelona’s test on top with a great late lap from Felipe Massa. Ferrari put in yet another mammoth performance and were able to gather valuable information.

Mark Webber was just pipped by Massa, but he was no doubt happy to have had such a strong outing in his Red Bull after a few wobbly moments at previous tests. 

Toro Roso yet again punched above their weight with Sebastien Buemi finishing third. Nick Heidfeld’s Renault was strong too in fourth despite a few KERS issues.

Lewis Hamilton had a "decent" final day in the McLaren and ended up in fifth.  Neither driver has been particularly thrilled by their new machine, but it is commonly thought that the MP4-26 will improve once the season is under way. But how long will the improvements take?

Williams and Force India continued their promising progress as Pastor Maldonado finished sixth (despite technical issues), and Adrian Sutil finished P7. 

Virgin, Mercedes and Lotus all suffered issues in one way or another and this affected their results. 

Jerome D’Ambrosio had his day cut short with technical woes but he was able to finish ninth for Virgin.

Michael Schumacher wasn’t able to build on Rosberg’s decent day on Sunday when his Mercedes stopped at turn 10.  Schumacher closed out the top 10 and his team later stated that they had been pleased with their "productive day."   However, that Mercedes is so temperamental, I find it difficult to make any solid predictions for them. 

Lotus were simply unlucky I guess.  Jarno Trulli crashed early in the morning and the team simply didn’t have enough parts to re-build the car.  The crash was apparently due to an "unspecified car problem."

With the news that the race and tests in Bahrain are to be cancelled due to political unrest, this event in Barcelona may prove to have been the final preseason test of 2011.

So, what can we conclude from the three Spanish tests?  

It looks as if the early fight for dominance will be between Ferrari and Red Bull.  Many experts up and down the paddock see potential in the new McLaren but it doesn’t look as if the MP4-26 will be quite up to scratch in time.

Arguably the potential of the top three teams has been little surprise.  What has been a very welcome shock is the relative speed of Mercedes, Renault, Williams, and even Force India, and Toro Roso.

I don’t think any of the above teams will be challenging for the titles, but I do think F1 2011 could have one of the best midfields in many years.  If testing has given us a realistic preview, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Renault or a Williams pop up in between the main contenders at various circuits.  I don’t want to get too overexcited but I think we may also see someone other than a Red Bull, Ferrari or McLaren driver on the podium's top step this year!

One thing is for sure, the scene has been set and there is potential oozing from 2011’s F1 grid... Roll on Australia!