F1 in 2022: What we learned from first pre-season test as Mercedes, Red Bull and rivals impress

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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz believes Ferrari have been the big winners from pre-season testing in Barcelona and outlines what he expects to happen during testing in Bahrain

F1’s previous top teams might still be the top teams… but Ferrari and McLaren may be in the hunt

The pecking order is always difficult to decipher after a first test – particularly one following huge rules and car changes – but while the timesheets had a familiar feeling to them at the end of the three days, overall there were very promising signs for new battles for the 2022 season.

Yes, Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two with Red Bull tucked in just behind on the final day and yes, the cars will change a lot by the time we get to the next test in Bahrain, but the leading midfield teams from last season – and particularly Ferrari and McLaren – appear to have made a strong start to Formula 1’s new era.

“I don’t think it’s representative at all,” said Mercedes’ new driver George Russell of his time on the final day, which put him second. “I wouldn’t read too much into it. I think the McLaren and the Ferrari are looking incredibly strong and I think we’ve got some improvements to be made.”

Hamilton added: “It’s not been the easiest or smoothest running – we have some obstacles to overcome.”

Russell’s assertions come from F1’s two most successful teams opening days where it was them, and not Mercedes and Red Bull, constantly yo-yoing between the top positions. Not only did their cars appear smooth and fast on track, they were also reliable, especially Ferrari’s neat F1-75 (most laps completed with 439) that was quite the talking point this week.

It should also be noted that neither Ferrari and McLaren were pushing for what were more ‘performance runs’ on the softest tyres in the dying embers of Friday like Hamilton.

As for Red Bull, they caught the eye early in the week when revealing what Ted Kravitz described as a “very different RB18” but may be happy that it was Mercedes stealing the headlines come the final chequered flag.

This is testing, and nobody really wants to be at the front in the limelight right now – as Lando Norris noted when topping the first day (“I’d rather be last) – while everyone also wants to pump up their rivals rather than themselves. “We are not the strongest team,” said Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto. “We are still the outsider, not the favourites.”

However, what we can say that it does look like F1’s front four from 2021 have not dropped the ball and are still the front four, and it could be a fair bit closer.

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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz looks back on the final day of Formula 1’s first pre-season test from Barcelona

Promising signs for new cars

So far, so very good for the radical new F1 cars that are hoped to transform wheel-to-wheel racing.

They do not just look stunning – modern and sleek with innovative quirks yet old-school and aggressive – the 2022 machines have also drawn plenty of compliments up and down the grid, while they have also been faster than expected given the complete overhaul, only a few seconds off the quickest times from last year despite being right at the start of their development.

Most importantly, it seems to be a cautious but promising tick on the key feature of the cars, with drivers optimistic that they can indeed follow one another easier, and that should make overtaking easier this season.

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A review of the final day of Formula 1’s pre-season testing from Barcelona

“The difference is pretty obvious already, and I’m relatively positive about it,” said Fernando Alonso, while world champion Max Verstappen stated: “It’s a step forward.”

While heavier, the cars – particularly through high-speed corners – also still seem nimble and rapid.

“It’s a completely different animal and it wants to be tamed in a different way,” added Sebastian Vettel.

More of the same, please, F1 2022.

New cars aren’t bulletproof | Haas and Alfa Romeo struggle

Before Friday, it looked like we were going to have a remarkably reliable first test. While a whopping 3109 laps completely dwarfs the 748 laps from the opening three days at the start of the hybrid-era testing back in 2014, there were plenty of issues on the final day.

Five red flags, many of which for mechanical glitches, and all of Alpine (hydraulic leak), Aston Martin and Haas (oil leaks) finished their test way earlier than expected.

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Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says the team can survive without the sponsorship of Russian fertiliser company Uralkali and says the criticism of driver Nikita Mazepin has been unfair

Alpine and Aston Martin’s cars did at least look solid in terms of pace – as did AlphaTauri’s, by the way – though the bottom two teams from last year really struggled.

Alfa Romeo, whose new signing Valtteri Bottas was particularly unlucky with track time, and Haas, whose difficult week off the track extended to on it, had a variety of issues with the lowest lap counts and the slowest times.

The two Ferrari-powered outfits have plenty of time to solve their issues – Bahrain testing is two weeks away and there will be plenty of development over a 23-race season – but this wasn’t the most promising start.

As for Williams, Alex Albon said the team have a “great foundation to start the year on”, so they’re seemingly happy with their work.

The ‘porpoising’ effect

It would not be testing without a buzz-word that would be foreign for many F1 fans, would it? This year it was the turn of ‘porpoising’ to jump to the fore, a term that was used during first ground-effect era in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

The word has returned because many of the all-new cars have been violently bouncing along the straights in Barcelona, imitating the swimming motion of – yes, you guessed it – a porpoise. This has been caused because of the new aerodynamics focused on creating downforce under the floor, which pushes the car lower and lower to the ground before it stalls back up again.

Enough of the explanations, the most important thing to know is that all the teams have been struggling with this – and many of them have sustained damage from their car constantly hitting the floor, while it is also not too comfy for drivers.

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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was quickest on day two of pre-season testing, while several experienced ‘porpoising’ issues with their new cars

“I think you can see some quite substantial issues with the cars in the straights with the bottoming,” said Mercedes’ George Russell, who added it was “not very pleasant at all”.

“From what I’ve seen of other teams, it would be a safety concern, so that does need to be sorted one way or another.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz stated “It looks like it could be a topic for this year”.

The solution to the issue would normally be increasing the ride height of the car, though with that comes a loss of downforce and overall performance. So one to keep an eye on come the next test in Bahrain as teams find the balance.