BARCELONA TEST 1 - WHAT WE LEARNT

Yes yes, testing doesn't prove anything. Fastest times during tests doesn't mean anything. I've heard that a thousand times. Especially from those fans whose teams didn't do too well during testing. Well guess what, they do mean something. Maybe not much but 0.1 is still more than 0. Testing still shows how reliable a car is or is going to be, how fast a car can go during a qualifying run or how fast it really is compared to rivals on different tyres as Rosberg showed. Splitting the two Lotus drivers on the timesheets with medium rubbers, he was only 0.254s off Romain Grosjean's best which was set on the new super-soft rubber and in the same conditions as Grosjean’s, That doesn't tell you anything? Are you sure you're a F1 fan?

So why have tests if it means nothing? The teams spent millions on tests for what? To prove nothing? A marketing exercise? So shut yer trap and enjoy the stats below. Draw your own conclusions too and may that strengthen your support for your team whatever your conclusion may be. Lets just enjoy our F1 shall we?



Engine Manufacturer Test Mileage

Engine Manufacturer	Miles	Kms
Mercedes	4390.9	7066.29
Renault	2397.9	3858.99
Ferrari	1917.8	3086.26
Honda	358.7	577.22

Team Test Mileage

Team	Miles	Kms
Mercedes	1290.1	2076.13
Red Bull	1209.1	1945.79
Toro Rosso	1188.8	1913.2
Williams	1177.3	1894.58
Lotus	1044.2	1680.45
Ferrari	997.9	1605.97
Sauber	919.8	1480.29
Force India	879.3	1415.12
McLaren	358.7	577.22

Driver Test Mileage

Driver	Team	Miles	Kms
Verstappen	Toro Rosso	645	1038.06
Kvyat	Red Bull	624.8	1005.48
Ricciardo	Red Bull	584.3	940.31
Hamilton	Mercedes	581.4	935.65
Rosberg	Mercedes	569.8	917.03
Sainz	Toro Rosso	543.8	875.14
Vettel	Ferrari	523.6	842.55
Bottas	Williams	514.9	828.59
Maldonado	Lotus	500.4	805.31
Ericsson	Sauber	480.2	772.73
Raikkonen	Ferrari	474.4	763.42
Wehrlein	Mercedes/Force India	465.7	749.45
Perez	Force India	448.3	721.52
Nasr	Sauber	439.7	707.56
Massa	Williams	413.6	665.66
Grosjean	Lotus	321.1	516.7
Wolff	Williams	248.8	400.33
Alonso	McLaren	228.5	367.74
Palmer	Lotus	222.7	358.43
Button	McLaren	130.2	209.47
Hulkenberg	Force India	104.1	167.58

Best Times Barcelona

Date	Driver	Team	Tyres	Time	Gap
22-Feb	Grosjean	Lotus	SS	01:24.07	123.868 mph
22-Feb	Rosberg	Mercedes	M	01:24.32	0.254
21-Feb	Maldonado	Lotus	SS	01:24.35	0.281
20-Feb	Ricciardo	Red Bull	S	01:24.57	0.507
20-Feb	Raikkonen	Ferrari	S	01:24.58	0.517
20-Feb	Massa	Williams	S	01:24.67	0.605
20-Feb	Perez	Force India	SS	01:24.70	0.635
21-Feb	Verstappen	Toro Rosso	SS	01:24.74	0.672
20-Feb	Hamilton	Mercedes	M	01:24.92	0.856
22-Feb	Kvyat	Red Bull	S	01:24.94	0.874
22-Feb	Nasr	Sauber	SS	01:24.96	0.889
22-Feb	Bottas	Williams	S	01:25.35	1.278
22-Feb	Sainz	Toro Rosso	SS	01:25.60	1.537
20-Feb	Alonso	McLaren	S	01:25.96	1.894
20-Feb	Palmer	Lotus	S	01:26.28	2.213
22-Feb	Vettel	Ferrari	S	01:26.31	2.245
21-Feb	Ericsson	Sauber	S	01:26.34	2.273
22-Feb	Hulkenberg	Force India	S	01:26.59	2.524
21-Feb	Wehrlein	Force India	M	01:27.33	3.266
19-Feb	Button	McLaren	M	01:28.18	4.115
19-Feb	Wehrlein	Mercedes	H	01:28.49	4.422
19-Feb	Wolff	Williams	M	01:28.91	4.839

PIRELLI TYRE STATISTICS

In addition to the usual 2015 tyre range, teams were also able to try out a prototype medium at Barcelona, which is being assessed by Pirelli for development purposes. Any teams that had not used their allocation of ‘winter hard' prototypes at Jerez were also allowed to carry them over to Barcelona. Each team is allocated a total of 110 sets of tyres for testing purposes throughout 2015; down from 135 sets last year.

Fastest laps and tyre choices per day

Day 1: Maldonado (Lotus) 69 laps - 1:25.011 (Soft)

Day 2: Ricciardo (Red Bull) 143 laps - 1:24.574 (Soft)

Day 3: Maldonado (Lotus) 104 laps - 1:24.348 (Supersoft)

Day 4: Grosjean (Lotus) 111 laps - 1:24.067 (Supersoft)

After four days of testing a total of 3134 laps were covered, with the performance gains in evidence compared to last year's Spanish Grand Prix pole time of 1:25.232s. This year's Pirelli tyres feature a new rear construction, which distributes temperature more evenly and also contributes to a reduction in lap time.

Tyre sets brought to Barcelona:

398 (18 supersoft; 56 soft; 135 medium; 51 hard; 70 intermediate; 44 full wet, 18 prototype medium, 6 winter hard)

Tyre sets used:

261 (11 supersoft; 56 soft; 126 medium; 35 hard; 9 intermediate; 0 full wet, 18 prototype medium, 6 winter hard)

Longest run per tyre:

Supersoft : Felipe Nasr, Sergio Perez, Pascal Wehrlein - 5 laps

Soft : Valtteri Bottas - 16 laps

Medium : Max Verstappen - 24 laps

Hard : Valtteri Bottas - 27 laps

Prototype medium : Daniel Ricciardo - 14 laps

Intermediate : Sebastian Vettel - 7 laps

Winter hard : Jolyon Palmer - 14 laps

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