Monday 29 February 2016

F1 2016 testing: Barcelona Test Two to reveal more new season clues

Mercedes ran a new-look nose on the final day of the first test
F1 teams will have just four days of track running left to hone their cars for 2016's season-opening Australian GP next month when the second and final test begins at Barcelona on Tuesday.

Despite the new-for-2016 cars taking to the track for the first time just six days ago, the shortest pre-season in the sport's history means the second test at the Circuit de Catalunya represents the final chance to work through changes on track before the first practice session in Melbourne on March 18.

Attention will turn to performance and full race simulations during week two - which should provide a more accurate glimpse at 2016's early pecking order.

Sky Sports F1's schedule for the second Barcelona test

World champions Mercedes head into the test already looking in ominous form after they completed the equivalent of 10 Spanish GP race distances with their new seemingly bullet-proof W07 last week.

Lewis Hamilton, who has flown to Los Angeles between the tests, said he could not wait to "unleash" the car after Mercedes ran almost exclusively on the slower medium tyre.

After a wretched 2015, McLaren and engine partners Honda had appeared to finally be on top of reliability too in the early stages of running but problems with the MP4-31 over the final two days mean the partnership are again under pressure for the second test.

Ahead of only Manor in the mileage charts at the half-way point of testing, McLaren's running was curtailed by first a hydraulic leak in the power unit - which forced a change of engine - and then an unrelated coolant leak on Thursday.

"Over the course of the first four days in Barcelona we've done a good amount of running and already learned a lot about our package, which should stand us in good stead for next week," said McLaren's director of engineering Matt Morris.

"At the second test we'll be able to focus more on race simulations and setup, as well as characterising our package's performance."

Honda are introducing revisions to their power unit for the second test, while Jenson Button tweeted there was "a lot of new stuff coming for test two" from McLaren.

Meanwhile, week one pacesetters Ferrari will aim to build on an eye-catching start to testing which saw their new SF16-H set the pace on all but one of the four days.

Conclusions from Test One

However, the car ran into some reliability problems and Kimi Raikkonen admitted "there is a good potential but we can still improve".

Elsewhere, and newcomers Haas enjoyed a productive first week to their F1 journey with the all-new VF-16 showing flashes of potential, while established outfit Williams are likely to join Mercedes in starting to show what their car is capable of after a low-key first week.

Tuesday's opening morning will also see the 11th and final 2016 car presented as Sauber reveal their C35. Although the Swiss team were in action last week, they ran their 2015 challenger decked out in this season's blue and yellow livery.

By contrast, Toro Rosso ran their new STR11 in an interim all-navy scheme at test one, but the Red Bull's junior team's more familiar colours are set to reappear this week.

Test Two line-ups so far

Day One, Tuesday March 1
McLaren: Fernando Alonso
Toro Rosso: Max Verstappen
Force India: Nico Hulkenberg
Williams: Valtteri Bottas
Force India: Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber: Felipe Nasr
Haas: Esteban Gutierrez

Day Two, Wednesday March 2
McLaren: Jenson Button
Toro Rosso: Carlos Sainz
Force India: Sergio Perez
Williams: Valtteri Bottas
Force India: Sergio Perez
Sauber: Marcus Ericsson
Haas: Esteban Gutierrez

Day Three, Thursday March 3
McLaren: Fernando Alonso
Force India: Nico Hulkenberg
Toro Rosso: Max Verstappen
Williams: Felipe Massa
Force India: Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber: Felipe Nasr
Haas: Romain Grosjean

Day Four, Friday March 4
McLaren: Jenson Button
Force India: Sergio Perez
Toro Rosso: Carlos Sainz
Williams: Felipe Massa
Force India: Sergio Perez
Sauber: Marcus Ericsson
Haas: Romain Grosjean

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