FORMULA 1 - 2015

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Formula 1 needs teams like Marussia, says Minardi

Former Formula One team principal Giancarlo Minardi has said the F1 Strategy Group’s decision to block Manor from competing this year using the 2014 Marussia chassis is “absurd”.

Minardi, whose team competed in Formula One between 1985 and 2005, believes F1 will be leaving itself vulnerable if it depends on car manufacturers to provide a small number of teams.

“This situation reminds me of the ’96-’97 seasons,” said Minardi, “when I defended very strongly the importance of small teams.”

“I argued that without teams participating with great passion but limited means – hoping, who knows, to find the right funds for the future – in the last row there would inevitably finite big manufacturers.”

“[This] situation has repeatedly occurred in the 2000s. The manufacturers are not waiting years to grow and achieve positive results; they have commercial and image objectives in the short and tangible consequence of the choices in those years, was that year after year we have lost almost all of them.

Minardi added he hopes the decision to block Marussia from returning as F1’s tenth team can still be overturned.

“I hope that it is not the final decision and that there is room for reasoning. Now as then, this sport needs also all those laboriously take part and hope to find the means for a more glorious sport future.”

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Adrian Newey: F1 regulations place too much emphasis on engines

Adrian Newey feels F1 needs to increase the emphasis on the role of the chassis, claiming that differences in performance have become too reliant on the engine.

Speaking ahead of the 2015 season, Newey was discussing the improvements Red Bull have worked on over the winter to help it get back on terms with Mercedes after ceding its world title to the manufacturer in 2014.

However, Newey admits there are only so many developments Red Bull can make to the chassis due to the rigid regulations, thus placing greater emphasis on the Renault engine, a power unit that was maligned for its speed deficiency and reliability compared with its Mercedes counterpart.

As such, emphasis has been placed on bringing the power unit up to speed, but having identified a '10 per cent' deficit to Mercedes, Newey admits it is difficult to expect Renault to bridge that gap in the short-term.

“I think Renault has now accepted, or stated, that the power deficit was around ten per cent, which was our estimation from our own analysis. Obviously they've come to their own opinion but it's a big number and really, for Renault, it's not something that's easy for them to overcome in a very short period of time.

“I think they've done a very good job of developing the engine over the winter but you don't overcome a ten per cent deficit in a few months and that's the position we're in at the moment - better than last year but still considerably down on where we know Mercedes were last year and that's obviously not taking into account the findings they've had over the winter.

“That's the nature of the engine business – it's a much longer lead time, with slower development curves than the chassis manufacturer, because the parts take so much longer to manufacture.

Indeed, Newey believes the regulations place too much emphasis on the power units, making it difficult to make gains on chassis tweaks alone.

“This year, for us, it's going to quite difficult and I think that's where things have got a little out of kilter. In my opinion, F1 should be a blend of the performance of the driver, the chassis and the engine, and I think the current regulations have swung too much in favour of the engine with a very restrictive set of regulations on the chassis, so if an engine manufacturer derives a benefit it's difficult for a chassis manufacturer to make enough of a difference to overturn that.

“Clearly there are differences between chassis and, as we saw last year, I'm not entirely sure that all the Mercedes cars had exactly the same engines in them when it came to software and fuel but certainly the Renault cars did. I can't comment on the Ferrari cars and there was a difference in performance between the Renault powered cars. It's not to say that there isn't a difference in performance between chassis, of course there is, but it's more difficult to find that last little bit.”

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Qatar close to signing contract for Formula one GP

Qatar's F1 dream remains alive.

Qatar appears to have moved a step closer to hosting an F1 race, despite the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi events already being on the schedule.

Qatar ASN boss Nasser bin Khalifa al-Attiyah, who has been the FIA Vice-President for sport in the Middle East region since December 2013, says that a contract is about to be signed.

“We are about to sign contracts to organise a Formula One race,” Al-Attiyah told agency AFP. “We have completed all the steps and there are only a few details before the official signature.”

Aiming for 2016

He added that the race could be on the schedule as early as 2016, and that it was still not clear whether it would take place at the established Lusail MotoGP venue – he is its general manager - or on a new street track in capital Doha.

Qatar is already holding the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 2019 IAAF Athletics World Championships.

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Unfinished business with Honda, says Button

Jenson Button is ready to bring Honda back to their former glory.

Jenson Button admits that he and Honda have “unfinished business” together after the disappointment of the Japanese company's last withdrawal from the sport at the end of 2008.

Button was initially left without a future, but the team survived as Brawn GP, and he went on to win the 2009 World Championship.

Button says that Honda engineers he met recently said they still felt part of that success, given the company's role in creating the car and team that became Brawn.

The last time

“It didn't finish well because they had to pull out,” said Button when asked by Motorsport.com about his last stint with Honda. “It did finish well in a way, if you look at 2009. I spent some time at the start of [this] year at Sakura, the R&D plant for motor sport. A lot of the guys there were saying congratulations for the championship in '09.

“I said it's obviously a difficult situation for me to be in, having won the championship with a different engine in the back after you guys put so much effort and time into that car. They said, no, we still feel that we have that connection because of the time we spent with you guys building this team or building this car into what it was.

“We didn't get the results together in '07 and '08, and there's a lot on us to achieve and put right if you like, working together. We did also have some very good times, in 2006 obviously our win in Hungary, and other times we had some very special moments. Some good times, but we really need to build on that. There's a lot of unfinished business, yes.”

Asked to compare Honda of today with 2008 he said: “It's very different than the last year as Honda, because it was Honda as a team spending a lot of time and effort on trying to develop the car and take the car in a certain direction, not just being an engine manufacturer and partner. So it's very different to then.”

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Road to 2015 - Episode 2- Factory Tour with Toto Wolff

The second instalment of the UBS Road to 2015 series takes an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team base in Brackley with Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, Toto Wolff.

Road to 2015 - Episode 3 - Formula One Design & Development

UBS presents Episode 3 of the Road to 2015 - an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the team as we gear up for the 2015 season.

In this episode we delve into the inner workings of the team - revealing the constant design and development battle that goes on amongst the elite of motorsport.

Hear exclusively from the directors within the technical, performance and engineering departments of the team, as they describe the tireless effort that goes into discovering marginal gains in performance, every hour, every day.

The race for 2015 is on, in fact, it started many, many months ago…

MIKA: Episode 1 wasn't posted as it's really just the history of the Silver arrows, for me, I just wanted to post video on the season ahead.

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Dennis: 'Mellow' approach key to new Alonso/McLaren F1 relationship

McLaren boss Ron Dennis says a mellowing of his character and greater maturity from Fernando Alonso has allowed them to work together in Formula 1 again after their 2007 fall-out.

Alonso has returned to McLaren for 2015, eight years after his previous stint with the team was curtailed early following a series of spats with team-mate Lewis Hamilton and amid the 'spygate' affair in which McLaren was heavily punished for accessing information from Ferrari.

A McLaren/Alonso reunion was long thought impossible given the severity of events in 2007, but Dennis says it now seems like a different world given changes in both their personalities and F1.

"The whole thing took on a momentum, and whatever was happening within the team, it was at a time when the environment was a very controversial environment for the sport as a whole and great emphasis was placed on many things that happened," said Dennis.

"We were perhaps the reciprocant of a climate that F1 had at the time; actually what took place was relatively trivial in reality, but heavily amplified - and everyone got pretty bruised by it.

"Everyone has moved on and certainly I am mellower. I think Fernando is more mature."

Team status disputes between Alonso and Hamilton had been part of the 2007 discord, but Dennis said Alonso had made no stipulations regarding his 2015 McLaren team-mate Jenson Button.

"I can promise you one thing with Fernando - he never even asked [for number one status]. In fact the opposite. Total opposite," he said.

"He said 'equality, I accept equality'. He has never asked for a single thing to be inserted in the contract."

McLaren engineering director Matt Morris added that Alonso had so far been an entirely positive influence.

"Fernando has been absolutely itching to get in the car for the last few months," said Morris.

"It has been a frustrating few days for him but he is happy, he is going to push us on as a team.

"His motivation levels when he is in the garage, when he is in the office, or in the simulator is massively high, and that knocks on to everybody else really, it pushes everybody else on."

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GROSJEAN: WE ARE ONCE AGAIN IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean is once again wearing his customary big smile, after sampling the E23 for a single day at the recent Jerez test in Spain.

Having emerged from his personal ‘crash-kid’ crisis of 2012, the Frenchman’s F1 career gathered momentum in 2013 before he spent last season racing the woeful black and gold Lotus.

Now, as the Enstone team looks to get back on track, Grosjean has confirmed that at Jerez, he rediscovered the pure joys of driving a formula one car.

Asked what has changed between 2014 and 2015, he told France’s RMC: “A lot of things. The engine has changed and we are once again in the right direction.”

“Above all it is now a car that is much more fun to drive. In the laps I have done I am enjoying myself, which has not happened for a while,” Grosjean added.

Again comparing the old Lotus with its successor, he explained: “It’s like bouncing a rugby ball and then bouncing a basketball.

“We have not got 100 per cent performance from the car yet and we do not know exactly where we are on the grid. But what I can say is that it is healthy and fun to drive, which in general is a good start,” said Grosjean.

As for how Lotus is shaping up versus the other teams this year, he answered: “We are beginning to get an idea, but do not ask me now who is the favourite.

“Last year, we realised very quickly that it would be a very difficult one for us.

“We will get some more information about the car at the next test in Barcelona, and then the first qualifying of the year in Melbourne will clearly give the current order,” he added.

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MARKO: SEBASTIAN IS IN A GOOD MOOD AND BACK TO HIS OLD SELF

Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel is back to his old self, according to his Red Bull mentor Helmut Marko.

Recently, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner claimed that amid Vettel’s struggle to keep up with the new F1 rules and teammate Daniel Ricciardo last year, the quadruple world champion contemplated quitting the sport.

Ultimately, he switched to Ferrari, where his motivation appears to have been rekindled.

Vettel, 27, has been taking Italian lessons over the winter, while in Jerez, where Ferrari set the testing pace, he was observed with an ever-present black notebook, dutifully scribbling down details as he embarks on his new challenge.

“He’s in a good mood,” Marko told Bild am Sonntag, “He is again writing me naughty and funny text messages. He is back to the old Sebastian.”

German broadcaster Christian Danner says Vettel’s team change appears to have done him the world of good.

“A change of scenery can be a miracle cure,” he said. “Especially when it’s the most emotional of all the teams, Ferrari.”

Another former F1 driver, David Coulthard, likened Vettel’s Ferrari move to that of his arch F1 rival and contemporary Michael Schumacher’s in 1996.

“Why shouldn’t Sebastian Vettel succeed there as well?” the Scot told the German newspaper Welt.

“In my eyes, it is much more difficult to build Red Bull, with no history and no experience in formula one, into a top team. And yet he managed to win four world titles with them — a huge achievement,” Coulthard added.

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NOW ECCLESTONE SAYS GERMAN GP NOT DEAD YET

The ongoing saga of the on-off-on-off 2015 German grand prix is reportedly not dead yet, even though last week Bernie Ecclestone told a German correspondent that the country will fall off this year’s schedule.

He quickly backtracked, but it is true that neither the embattled Nurburgring nor Hockenheim currently have a deal in place to host the July race.

“I hope this is all just sabre-rattling,” Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda said.

Indeed, it now emerges that none of the three key parties – F1 supremo Ecclestone nor the two German circuits – have given up.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, Ecclestone informed the powerful strategy group at its meeting in Paris last Thursday that while time is running out, negotiations are still taking place.

“Ecclestone also made clear that there is no substitute race in the event of a cancellation. Then there would only be 19 grands prix on the calendar,” wrote correspondent Michael Schmidt.

Sport Bild claims that one saviour could be Mercedes, for whom Germany is its key home race.

The publication claims that it is possible the German giant and reigning world champions will fund the difference between Ecclestone’s race fee demands and Hockenheim’s projected loss.

And Nurburgring spokesman Carsten Schumacher is quoted by DPA news agency: “In the interest of motor sport fans and the region, we are willing to accept a reasonable loss.”

Lauda, meanwhile, said he is baffled as to why German promoters cannot afford to keep F1 in the country.

“Actually, it should be easy this year,” said the F1 legend. “On one hand you have Vettel in a Ferrari, while on the other you have the duel between the Mercedes drivers.

“If Austria, Singapore, Austin and Silverstone are able to fill their houses, Hockenheim should be able to as well,” Lauda added.

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FERRARI USING SPECIAL NON-REFLECTIVE PAINT

Ferrari has reportedly added a coat of new non-reflective paint to its Formula 1 car for 2015.

After a dire 2014, the fabled Maranello team underwent a radical personnel shakeup and emerged at the opening winter test at Jerez apparently much more competitive.

But that pace is not what caught photographer Alex Galli’s eye at Jerez, according to Omnicorse.

“The colour (of the SF15-T) is very nice because it does not reflect,” explained Galli. “I think it is a solution designed for the sponsor names to be read in any environment.”

“But what really amazed me was when the rain stopped and the sun came out. “In those conditions all the other cars had a mirror effect, while on the SF15-T that did not happen.”

“Also, the drops of water on the bodywork create many reflections, but on the Ferrari they seemed to just slide away,” said Galli.

MIKA: Will it make their car go faster!?

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MERCEDES TO DOMINATE AGAIN IN 2015 PREDICTS BRIATORE

Former F1 boss Flavio Briatore does not think any teams are ready to challenge and Mercedes’ dominance in 2015.

Ferrari set the pace at the Jerez test last week, while Red Bull and Williams are expected to have taken steps forward since 2014.

But former Renault chief Briatore insisted: “The one constant in formula one at the moment is the superiority of Mercedes over all the other teams.

“Mercedes will dominate this world championship just as they did the last,” the flamboyant Italian is quoted by the Italian news source Adnkronos.

He does not, therefore, join those who think Ferrari’s Jerez form is already indicative of a potentially title-winning bid in 2015.

“After the difficulties, we all hope to see a competitive Ferrari this year, that would be great,” said Briatore.

“The positive thing is that Ferrari did many more laps than a year ago. But I would be very cautious about making further judgements about these first tests because they do not give points for the championship.

“I do think we will understand some more after the next test,” he added.

As for Fernando Alonso, Renault’s champion of 2005 and 2006 who is still linked managerially to Briatore, the 64-year-old Italian said he is not alarmed that McLaren-Honda endured a tough first test with its new MP4-30.

“I spoke with Fernando and he is not at all concerned,” said Briatore.

“It is normal to have problems at the beginning. It is better to stop now than in Melbourne and, anyway, these tests are for understanding and solving problems.”

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Mateschitz: STR should aim for fifth

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz believes Toro Rosso should set their sights high this year despite their rookie line-up.

The Faenza-based squad finished seventh last year, but they have opted to replace Daniil Kvyat, who left for Red Bull, and Jean-Eric Vergne with the inexperienced duo of Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen.

Team boss Franz Tost, though, is very optimistic about his young drivers and suggested they will surprise a few people.

Mateschitz also feels they have what it takes to finish fifth in the Constructors' Championship.

"We have two excellent young drivers there. The aim has not changed, Toro Rosso is a learning school for young talents," he is quoted as saying by Autosport.

"I share the opinion of Franz that Toro Rosso should be able to contest for fifth in the Constructors' rankings."

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Matt Morris on the radical McLaren-Honda MP4-30

McLaren’s director of engineering Matt Morris answered the media’s question on the progress of McLaren’s new Honda-powered MP4-30 in the first test at Jerez on Tuesday.

What have you learned about the car so far?

“Today [Tuesday, day three of the test] we’ve been doing a lot of aero work, checking the car at lots of different settings so we canget some correlation data back to the guys at the factory just to check that everything’s working as we expect on the aero today.”

Following the Abu Dhabi test, did you expect to still be facing so many problems?

“We basically came out of Abu Dhabi with two or three pretty big problems which we’ve actually sorted. So we’re confident here that we’re going to have a pretty trouble-free time. Unfortunately we’ve had a few issues, they’re been sort of small, annoying issues, no major problems, but it’s meant that we’ve been sat in the garage quite a long time.”

There seems to have been no burning of the rear bodywork – is that because you haven’t run the engine to its maximum temperature?

“I think we’ve done a good job running at temperatures that we expect from that cooling package, it’s been a big tick in the box really so that proves the hard work we’ve done on that tight packaging has paid off and we haven’t got any issues. It’s a good positive to take away.”

What was the cause of the stoppage on Tuesday morning?

“We had a bit of an operational issue with oil level this morning, again an annoying little problem which lost us two hours, but now we’re up and running we’re just working through an aero programme.”

Do you anticipate making a lot of major changes before the Barcelona test?

“The sort of main car architecture works. We’ve obviously got this super-tight rear end which works so sort of structurally and systems-wise we don’t plan on making any changes. The changes that we will make will be reactively easy changes: bodywork, wings, floor, those sorts of changes. So we’ve got those things planned for the next couple of tests and then going into Melbourne.”

Will your experience with this car lead to changes in the next chassis?

“No, no, so they’re already built.”

How many, for instance?

“More than one. ”

What steps are coming for Barcelona from Honda?

“They’ve basically got upgrades coming sort of every day at every test, really. Obviously we’ve got a target of Melbourne and yeah we’ll sort of get there as soon as we can but there’s no concerns we won’t get there it’s just sort of taking everything step by step, really.”

In spite of only doing 35-40 laps, is it possible to make first evaluation of the power unit?

“We’ve got some really good feedback for Honda. Jenson [button’s] just been doing these aero runs today and he’s been constantly giving feedback to Honda.

“It’s to be expected, it’s a new power unit, we’re a very new team, so all that information’s constantly being fed into the Honda engineers, back to Japan, they’re constantly doing updates, putting them back in the car, so that’s just going to be an ongoing process for the rest of the day here today and the next two Barcelona tests.

“So like I say it’s just sort of what we did last year, repeating it all again with a new engine partner so it’s nothing unexpected really.”

How much of the things you wanted to do here can you do on the simulator dynos?

“There’s lots of things we can do on the simulator and on the dynos. The main thing coming out of this test was to check that the sort of car architecture, the package worked. That was absolutely key because obviously if we’ve got a problem there it’s a lot of work involved in changing coolers and installation.

“So actually the main aim was to come here, check that, which we’ve done. And we’ll continue developing in the simulator, obviously got all the new aero bits coming for the next two tests so we’ll be pretty busy over the new few weeks/month.”

Have you solved the problems from the first days?

“We’re still carrying a few issues both from our side and Honda’s side. But again we’ve got a plan in place to get all of those fixed before Melbourne.”

Does the ERS work?

“Yes, everything’s working pretty well so again we’re sort of going through, learning different strategies, repeating what we did last year. So the deployment and harvesting strategy is again just new to Honda so we’re just going through the motions, testing a lot of different settings. But no, in terms of its functionality it’s all working fine.”

Will your lack of running at Jerez affect the plan for Melbourne?

“No. We basically had to slim our aero programme down, we had a lot more planned. But due to the lack of running we sat down last night and cut that down to what we really needed to do today. And it looks like we’re going to have a good day today so I’m sure we’ll get through all that.

“And that’ll give us enough information then to sort of back up what we’re doing back at the factory and if we obviously need to make any changes then we can make those changes based on the data we get today. It would be nice if we’d got some more running but like I say we’ve got the really important stuff done.”

Are the rear suspension wishbones a hangover from last year or are they optimised around the aero you want this year?

“What we’ve done is we’ve sort of designed a rear suspension layout that gives us options to do different things, shall I say, so obviously at the moment we’re not running the same spec as we did but with the layout we’ve got it allows us flexibility if we want to test some different things.

What’s the impact of loss of front-rear inter-connected suspension – are you trying different things with hydraulics?

“We’ve changed a little bit but to be honest that change happened mid-season last year so we did most of the changes then. We’ve pretty much carried over sort of suspension layouts, if you like, from where we finished last year. We’re not making huge changes.”

Are you confident you can start ’15 where you finished ’14, as Eric Boullier has indicated he wants?

“We’re still confident we can do that. Obviously we’re not running at full speed at the moment so we’ve got to make sure we get on top of the issues we’ve got. But if we do get on top of those issues there’s no reason why we can’t be performing where we were at the end of last year.”

Is there anything from last year’s car which fits on the new one?

“There’s quite a bit of stuff that’s carried over. I mean obviously designers like to design new parts but we do obviously to carry over things that don’t bring performance and we can save money on.

“So there’s a decent percentage of parts that have carried over but obviously with the new power unit that’s forced us to change – well, not ‘forced’ – but we’ve taken the opportunity to change quite a lot of things, particularly in the integration, how the chassis integrates into the engine and how the engine integrates into the gearbox. So that’s very different from last year.”

How different is it working with Honda instead of Mercedes?

“It’s clearly very different because the culture is very different.

“But it’s also – they’re a great bunch of guys, the more and more we work with them the closer and closer we become. Clearly last year was a bit difficult because we were sort of on our way out with Mercedes so Mercedes… you can’t fault them, they were very professional, but obviously they only gave us the information they really, really had to give us.

“The big difference this year is we’ve got a much closer relationship with Honda which is allowed us to help them and them help us in terms of how the integration and how we design the engine. So from an engineering point of view that’s been massively beneficial. And like I say the relationship’s really great and every day that we have a problem we get all sort of together and develop an even stronger relationship based on us all mucking together, really.”

Is the language barrier an issue?

“No, all the engineers that we’ve got track side speak pretty good English and also when we’re out, I’ve spent quite a lot of time out in Sakura, pretty much all the main engineers speak very good English so there’s no issues there.”

How do you rate Fernando Alonso’s commitment?

“Fernando’s been absolutely itching to get in the car for the last few months. It’s been a frustrating few days for him but he’s happy, I think he’s going to push us on as a team, just his sort of motivation levels when he’s in the garage, when he’s in the office, in the simulator, is massively high.

“And obviously that knocks on to everybody else, really, pushes everybody else on. So really looking forward to this year.”

What is the nature of the problems you are facing?

“We’ve had a number of problems, like I say we’ve had some operational issues, just all working as a team together for the first time, things you take for granted when you’ve been with an engine supplier for many years, you sort of drop the ball a little bit sometimes like I say getting oil levels wrong, all these sorts of things, so we’ve had a few issues like that.

“We’ve also had some minor electrical issues again which have resulted in a lot of down time but have actually been relatively easy to fix. So it’s good in a way that they’re easy to fix but frustrating in another way that they sort of hold the car up for so long.

“So the main thing is we’ve not been burning bodywork, we’ve not been blowing engines up so I’m pretty happy that we’re going to come out of this test with no sort of major issues to resolve.”

Has it forced any changes to the test programmes for Barcelona?

“I don’t think it’s going to change much at all, really. Like I say the problems that we’ve had have been minor and we’ve fixed them. Obviously we’ll try and cram as much – because we had a huge programme of aero and set-up work that we’ve just not covered – so we’ll just try and cram as much as we can into that.

“But essentially we have got time to do that so I’m not really concerned about the amount of time we’ve lost.”

Can the team realistically finish the first race of the championship?

“Absolutely. That’s the plan!”

Is it realistic?

“Yes of course it’s realistic. Absolutely.”

Will the problems during this test lead you to take a more conservative step with the engine?

“No. Like I say a lot of the problems we’ve had have been quite small problems so they’re not sort of big, fundamental engine change – it’s sort of wires and pipes, all those sorts of things, are very easy to fix so we don’t have those sort of concerns in terms of homologating the engine.”

Nothing related to the mechanicals or the internals of the engine?

No, not really.

Does lap time matter?

“Obviously it’d be nice to be a little bit further up. We’ve obviously got great simulation tools these days and we know where we are in terms of our performance, we’re not running at maximum performance at the moment so if we look at that and add on where we think we should be, not too worried really.

“Yes it would be nice to be further up the time sheets but nothing further to worry about. That’s as fast as we’re going at the moment, that’s where we are.”

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Grosjean to run Bianchi tribute on 2015 helmet

Romain Grosjean will pay tribute to his fellow countryman this year.

Romain Grosjean will run the 2015 Formula season with the memory of Jules Bianchi on his helmet as he continues to fight for his life in a French hospital.

His new helmet design features a 'Forza Jules' decal on the top of it. The Frenchman goes into his fourth season as an F1 pilot, still searching for his first victory.

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F1 cars should be harder to drive says Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo believes Formula 1 cars should be harder to drive than they currently are, as it would help to separate the best from the best in terms of driver performance.

It's often said that modern F1 cars have become too easy to drive and therefore almost any driver with single-seater experience can jump in one and get fairly close to the limit.

That's not how it used to be though, according to the Red Bull driver, who believes they should be harder on a physical level to allow the driver to make more of an impact.

"The easy part is probably more so physically now," he told Grand Prix Times. "I know when I first drove in 2009 in my first test, physically the car was harder.

"That's why the young guys are able to get in the car and not suffer as much. In my first test I thought my head was going to fall off! From that side a bigger challenge would be nice."

Whilst he admits they've gotten easier over time, he says it's still a challenge to extract the maximum.

"A pretty good race car driver could drive within maybe 1.5 to 2 seconds [of the pace in a current F1 car], but still to get the last two tenths out of these cars is pretty tricky," he added.

"For sure the high speed corners are not as fast as they were a few years ago…that would be nice to get that back, to have some corners on the calendar where the real good guys are taking it full and the ones who just don’t have that last bit of commitment are having to lift."

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Ricciardo breaks Hamilton's Top Gear record

Daniel Ricciardo can add another victory over Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton to his record book after he thrashed the Briton's Top Gear lap record.

The Red Bull driver was taking part in the popular motoring shows 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment, which sees celebrities lap Top Gear's circuit in a Suzuki Liana.

Several F1 drivers have taken part and have their own leaderboard which was previously topped by Hamilton's 1:42.9 on his second visit two years ago. His first, a 1:44.7, had been completed on a wet and oily track.

Ricciardo posted a 1:42.1 to go eight-tenths quicker than Hamilton, much to Jeremy Clarkson's astonishment. The lap was a second quicker than the man he replaced at Red Bull, Mark Webber, and almost two second faster than former team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

The Australian joked afterwards that it felt better than his maiden win in F1 at the Canadian Grand Prix last year.

Top Gear F1 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' Times:

1. D Ricciardo - 1:42.1

2. L Hamilton - 1:42.9

3. M Webber - 1:43.1

4. S Vettel - 1:44.0

5. R Barichello - 1:44.3

6. The Stig II - 1:44.4

7. N Mansell - 1:44.6

8. L Hamilton - 1:44.7 (Wet)

9. J Button - 1:44.7 (Wet)

10 The Stig I - 1:46.1

11. D Hill - 1:46.3

12. M Webber - 1:47.1

[MIKA27]

F1 testing analysis: Jerez speed traps expose Mercedes advantage

Ferrari's performance grabbed the headlines at last week's Jerez Formula 1 test, but closer analysis of speed trap data shows there may still be a gulf between it and Mercedes.

Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were quickest on three of the four days in Spain last week, while Felipe Nasr in the Ferrari-powered Sauber took the top time on the other day.

That prompted talk that Ferrari may have made significant gains with its power unit over the winter to become a challenger for the dominant Mercedes outfit.

But, according to speed trap figures that have been obtained by AUTOSPORT, Mercedes still appears to have a significant margin in power terms.

With the top speeds of all the cars measured towards the end of the back straight at Jerez before braking for the Dry Sack hairpin, it is telling that the top three fastest cars were Mercedes-powered.

Felipe Massa in the Williams and Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes were both clocked at 307.6 km/h on the middle two days of the test, with Pastor Maldonado recording 306.8km/h in the Mercedes-powered Lotus.

The nearest challengers to the Mercedes were Max Verstappen in the Renault-powered Toro Rosso and Marcus Ericsson in the Ferrari-powered Sauber - both of whom recorded 303.3 km/h.

Raikkonen was the only Ferrari driver to record a representative speed, because Sebastian Vettel's efforts on the first two days of testing could not be logged due to transponder problems.

Although Ferrari set the fastest time of the test on the final day with Raikkonen, his top speed through the trap was nearly 7 km/h down on the Mercedes.

While the speed trap data cannot provide a definitive answer on the power of each engine, for downforce levels, fuel and engine settings can affect the results, it does offer a hint that Ferrari and Renault still have to produce more than they did at Jerez if they are to threaten Mercedes.

SPEED TRAP FIGURES
Jerez F1 test, February 1-4

1 Felipe Massa (Williams-Mercedes) 307.6 km/h
2 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 307.6 km/h
3 Pastor Maldonado (Lotus-Mercedes) 306.8 km/h
4 Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso-Renault) 303.3 km/h
5 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber-Ferrari) 303.3 km/h
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 300.8 km/h
7 Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull-Renault) 294.2 km/h
8 Jenson Button (McLaren-Honda) 277.6 km/h

[OZCUBAN]

Ricciardo breaks Hamilton's Top Gear record

Daniel Ricciardo can add another victory over Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton to his record book after he thrashed the Briton's Top Gear lap record.

The Red Bull driver was taking part in the popular motoring shows 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment, which sees celebrities lap Top Gear's circuit in a Suzuki Liana.

Several F1 drivers have taken part and have their own leaderboard which was previously topped by Hamilton's 1:42.9 on his second visit two years ago. His first, a 1:44.7, had been completed on a wet and oily track.

Ricciardo posted a 1:42.1 to go eight-tenths quicker than Hamilton, much to Jeremy Clarkson's astonishment. The lap was a second quicker than the man he replaced at Red Bull, Mark Webber, and almost two second faster than former team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

The Australian joked afterwards that it felt better than his maiden win in F1 at the Canadian Grand Prix last year.

Top Gear F1 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' Times:

1. D Ricciardo - 1:42.1

2. L Hamilton - 1:42.9

3. M Webber - 1:43.1

4. S Vettel - 1:44.0

5. R Barichello - 1:44.3

6. The Stig II - 1:44.4

7. N Mansell - 1:44.6

8. L Hamilton - 1:44.7 (Wet)

9. J Button - 1:44.7 (Wet)

10 The Stig I - 1:46.1

11. D Hill - 1:46.3

12. M Webber - 1:47.1

Put Daniel in a Mercedes and you will have the next world champion this guy is seriously quick and talented

[MIKA27]

DENNIS: MCLAREN AND HONDA WILL CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN

McLaren have a mountain to climb with Honda in Formula One this season, with plenty of challenges along the way but they will get there in the end, group head Ron Dennis said on Tuesday.

“You don’t expect to be at the top of the mountain the day you start climbing. It takes time and you also have to prepare well,” the Briton told a news conference at Honda’s global headquarters in Tokyo.

“We are very much preparing for the climb, and it’s going to be a challenging climb but it’s a climb that both Honda and McLaren have made several times together.”

Honda, who quit Formula 1 as a manufacturer in 2008, are returning this season as engine partner to former champions McLaren, who were powered by Mercedes units last year.

McLaren and Honda enjoyed a dominant period from 1988 to 1992, with Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna and French four-times champion Alain Prost winning 15 of 16 races in 1988.

The team won 44 grands prix, from 80 starts, during that five-year partnership.

“We are ready for the challenge and we will have success. Because history shows that Honda always succeeds and the Honda-McLaren partnership in the ’80s is something that we intend to reproduce,” Dennis said.

McLaren, who last won a race in 2012, had a difficult start to testing with the new car in Jerez, southern Spain, this month.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Britain’s Jenson Button both managed only six laps each on the first two days of the test but completed more on the remaining two.

“I think the first thing we should emphasise is that the first Grand Prix where we are going to be measured is in fact Australia,” Dennis said.

“The first test clearly wasn’t as smooth as we would like but nevertheless we have to stay very disciplined and focus on gathering the data.”

[MIKA27]

ECCLESTONE HAS STUPID PLAN TO BOLSTER SHRINKING F1 GRID

Desperate or seeking attention? It appears Bernie Ecclestone is working on a wild contingency plan in case the Formula 1 grid continues to shrink.

If Marussia’s bid to return this year should fail, the pitlane looks set to house just nine teams in 2015.

And with other teams including Force India, Sauber and even Lotus thought to be stretched financially, there is a risk the grid could fall below 16 cars in the near future.

One oft-touted solution is three-car teams, but according to Auto Motor und Sport, F1 supremo Ecclestone is working on another fix to boost grid numbers.

Correspondent Michael Schmidt claims Ecclestone quietly prefers the idea of a “second division” for the pinnacle of motor sport, “with 2013 Red Bulls and Mecachrome V8 engines”.

Originally, Ecclestone’s touted idea was for a sort of ‘Super GP2′, featuring cars from the feeder series with more powerful engines.

But Schmidt said the 84-year-old Briton’s new idea is to attract entrants for his second division with a €15 million startup package.

“The former F1 team boss Colin Kolles would prepare the base as the 2013 Red Bull chassis. The V8 engine would be produced by Flavio Briatore at Mecachrome,” the Auto Motor und Sport report reads.

Schmidt said the initial proposal was rejected by Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren at last Thursday’s strategy group meeting in Paris.

The more realistic plan, should the grid dwindle to less than the agreed number of entries, is for existing grandee teams to run a third car.

[MIKA27]

VERSTAPPEN: SOMEONE WHO IS 15 OR 16 IS NOT READY FOR F1

Formula 1’s teenager Max Verstappen says he understands the FIA’s decision to clamp down on the age and inexperience of future rookies in formula one.

In just over a month, the Dutchman will smash the all-time record for the youngest ever race driver on the grid, when he hits the throttle in Melbourne at the controversial age of 17 years and 5 months.

In reaction to Verstappen’s signing by Toro Rosso, the FIA has imposed for 2016 a raft of new ‘super licence’ rules that, firstly, will ban from F1 anyone under the age of 18.

De Telegraaf quotes Verstappen as agreeing: “Someone who is 15 or 16 is not ready for Formula 1. He should be karting. So I do understand what the FIA has done. But I’m glad I have a contract.”

However, Verstappen insists that drivers in his situation should not necessarily be locked outside of the sport in the future.

“Those with the talent should not be deprived of their chance in F1,” he said. “If these rules had been around before, some big names like Kimi Raikkonen could not have made their starts.”

“Some are more ready than others, which is also true for me,” argued Verstappen, whose father is the former F1 driver Jos.

“Since my childhood, Formula 1 was the goal. It is what myself and my father were working towards during all those years in karting. I know of nothing else.”

Notwithstanding his preparation, Verstappen admits that even he hesitated when the offer from Toro Rosso landed in his lap last summer.

“You only really know if you are ready for Formula 1 after you’ve actually driven a Formula 1 car,” he said.

“In that respect, I took a risk because I signed without having driven one metre in a F1 car. But because Toro Rosso promised to give me experience in the practice sessions, I had no argument to say no,” Verstappen added.

[MIKA27]

ALONSO VOWS TO SUE OVER TAX EVASION REPORTS

Double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso is threatening legal action after being named on a list of wealthy people who are suspected of tax evasion.

The so-called ‘Falciani list’, named after a whistleblower, features thousands of names of those with Swiss accounts who reportedly used the HSBC bank to evade tax by placing money offshore.

Also on the list are Michael Schumacher, Flavio Briatore and Heikki Kovalainen, according to major newspapers including Le Monde.

According to the Spanish news agency EFE, Spaniard Alonso – accused of holding $42 million in four separate accounts – has hit back at the reports by threatening to sue over damage to his reputation.

A source close to Alonso, who now lives in Dubai, insisted: “Revenue authorities have never asked him anything because his situation has always been impeccable.”

EFE claims Alonso confirmed in a statement that he has ordered the “filing of several lawsuits” in the wake of the media reports.

Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore, who was linked managerially both to Alonso and Kovalainen, also hit back at the claims, insisting that his “accounts with HSBC had for years been reported to the authorities who never found any tax irregularities”.

Reports had claimed Briatore’s nine HSBC accounts contained EUR 64 million.

[MIKA27]

VETTEL HELMET NOT REPLICA OF SCHUMACHER KARTING DESIGN

The Sebastian Vettel camp has denied claims the quadruple Formula 1 world champion’s 2015 helmet livery is based on a design once worn by his mentor Michael Schumacher.

Publications including La Gazzetta dello Sport and Sport Bild had made the link between Vettel’s new white design and an almost identical one reportedly worn by his mentor and idol Schumacher in his karting days in the mid 80s.

But Jens Munser, the designer behind Vettel’s multitude of liveries, says he and the 27-year-old driver devised the 2015 helmet without Schumacher in mind.

“We deliberately kept the design simple,” he told Sport Bild.

“We liked his provisional helmet from the first Ferrari test at Fiorano, and Sebastian wanted to add the German colours so that he is better recognised,” Munser, who also painted the great Schumacher’s latter red helmets, added.

Vettel’s assistant Britta Roeske confirmed that the helmet was designed without either the new Ferrari driver or Munser having any knowledge of Schumacher’s mid-80s karting livery.

Munser continued: “The off-centre stripe running from front to back was my suggestion.

“I originally wanted the helmet divided in two different colours. But we both liked the white helmet Sebastian used in November so much that we kept it.”

Interestingly, the red used for Vettel’s new tricolour stripe and the famous red of Schumacher’s famous latter designs is an identical huge, given that Munser painted both driver’s F1 helmets.

[MIKA27]

NURBURGRING SUBMITS PROPOSAL TO SAVE GERMAN GP

The Nurburgring promoters have tabled an offer with the goal of keeping the German Grand Prix alive in 2015.

The F1 paddock – and particularly Germany’s prominent representatives including Mercedes, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel – has reacted with concern to Bernie Ecclestone’s news that it is possible neither the Nurburgring or Hockenheim can afford to host formula one this year.

“It is important not to forget the backbone and history of formula one,” former F1 driver David Coulthard insists.

“There are some historic grands prix, like Britain, Italy, Belgium, Monaco and a few others, and Germany is definitely among them,” he told Spox.

As things stand, however, television and trackside audiences in Germany have been dwindling, leaving Hockenheim struggling to limit its financial losses.

And the Nurburgring is struggling for mere survival amid an ownership crisis.

But Nurburgring spokesman Carsten Schumacher has revealed that the circuit, which according to the official F1 calendar is due to host the race this July, has made a new proposal to Ecclestone in a bid to end the uncertainty.

“We made an offer to Bernie Ecclestone and we are awaiting his response,” he told Motorsport Aktuell.

Explaining the proposal, Schumacher said Ecclestone would “organise the grand prix of Germany and also collect all the profits”.

It is unclear if Ecclestone will agree, but Coulthard argues that the sport should be flexible in order to safeguard its ‘historic’ races.

“There is a strong case that circuits like this should remain part of the world championship,” he said.

“Should they be given preferential treatment? I would say yes, but it is also a business decision. Formula one is a business, and at the end of the day, somebody has to run it.”

[MIKA27]

Reflections on Jerez: Making bricks from straws in the wind

We all know the ones about testing. The standard disclaimers when it comes to interpreting what it's all telling us. The lap times mean little. Several things that we looking in from the outside don't know can skew a car's behaviour as well as its speed severely: fuel loads; running programmes; extent that the engine wick is turned up; track conditions; state of the tyres... The list almost is endless. And to add to the obfuscation whether a team is doing well or doing badly, in either case its interest is in disguising the fact to outsiders.

It was not in the most obvious place that I stumbled across some words that rather summed up the challenge of deciphering pre-season testing. They were from the former British Foreign Secretary, the late Robin Cook, reflecting on his time in that role when he had to review the evidence from intelligence services. Told you it wasn’t obvious.

"Doubt and intelligence assessments go hand in hand," said Cook. "One is trying to guess the secrets that somebody is trying to keep, so it inevitably follows that one is trying to carry out a task even worse than that of the Israelites: to make bricks out of straws in the wind."

A ring of familiarity perhaps.

But then again it might not be that unlikely. The parallels between F1 and geopolitics have been noted before. And amongst it interpreting pre-season testing is F1’s answer it seems to interpreting the outputs of MI6 monitoring mysterious alien activities.

But we don’t learn, as despite the perils we can’t help ourselves trying to make sense of it all. So what were the straws in the Jerez wind from our opening four days of testing just passed in southern Spain, and can we build something solid with them?

Well in another thing that has a ring of familiarity on the test’s evidence Mercedes looks well on top still. And not only that but is proceeding these days with a cocky strut.

Right from the start of day one the W06 was rotating the track like a Duracell bunny, and as everyone else was making their first tentative steps the silver lot wasn’t caring to hide that it was bouncing along instead like John Travolta in the opening scene of Saturday Night Fever.

Come lunchtime that day Sky’s Ted Kravitz noted that, "It’s astonishing. I’ve been talking to a lot of engineers up and down the pit lane…and engineers from rival teams are astonished that Mercedes have managed to come straight out of the box and be this reliable, and this consistent, and relatively fast.

"This is a brand new car, brand new everything…and for Rosberg to be out there and putting in 50 laps on the first morning of testing is almost unheard of."

Christian Horner described it as "taking the mickey". But it’s the sort of swagger and audacity – and performance – that could have been taken directly from Red Bull in its recent pomp.

And it continued in much the same vein throughout the four days so that by the end Mercedes was clearly atop the mileage charts, with over 600km (or over 100 laps, if your prefer) more under its belt than the next team and even further ahead of those that may be presumed its closest title rivals. Problems were few, amounting to a water leak on day two and Lewis Hamilton managing to spin off on the final day.

And while a reliable car isn’t necessarily a quick one, it indicates a thorough preparation which reflects well on the team generally, and a reliable car is also easier to develop competitively as well as frees up time to brush up on operational matters (the silver squad was even practicing pit stops on day one). Remember too that there are relatively few regulation changes this year so the Merc’s big 2014 pace advantage is unlikely to have evaporated and that the closest thing the car had to a weakness last season was…reliability.

True, the machine rarely troubled the top of the headline times, but you feel it wasn’t really trying to. None of the W06’s quickest efforts were set on soft tyres (worth at least a second) while its runs tended to be 30-40 laps in length; Ferrari’s, by comparison, often were around the 10 lap mark. And as Sebastian Vettel pointed out during the week at this stage “I think lap times are not that important in the end - it's the amount of laps”. Furthermore the view of trackside observers was that the Merc looks the strongest out there once again and consistently so; both drivers too reported that the car felt similar to last season’s all-conquering one and effused quiet confidence. Nico Rosberg on the radio called it a “really top job to start the year”.

"I’ve seen nothing that will dissuade me that it’s just going to be Mercedes on top," Kravitz concluded, reflecting the view of most.

Ferrari performed well on the surface, but is their pace truly the result of a revival?

But if the consensus is that the Mercedes remains ahead, it also is that many of the rest have clawed back some of the deficit. And on the basis of the opening test none have more than Ferrari. Indeed the red cars topped the times on three days out of four, as well as overall.

This may surprise, given the Scuderia’s recent heads-on-spikes policy reminiscent of the bad old days. Yet for all of Ferrari’s merry-go-round in a strange way Ferrari could hardly not improve its car this year, almost in spite of themselves. The room to improve in the power unit was conspicuous while the SF15T is the first car properly from the leadership of James Allison, who in what is soon to be a post-Newey age is for many F1’s number one technical brain. And it seems on both fronts it’s exactly what’s happened.

On the power unit front it appears to have focussed on the things it was bad at last year – namely its power delivery and energy harvesting. It also appears to have clawed back the power deficit at least to the Mercedes of 2014, judging by the words of Felipe Nasr who drove last year’s Williams and reckoned this Ferrari unit felt "very similar". This should be tempered a little though with the fact the Mercedes unit is a moving target, and is reckoned to have found up to another 60bhp itself between seasons – albeit Ferrari is thought to have more horsepower to come also.

And as well as reliability problems being rare out on track the car looks strong, with the chassis’s own 2014 bugbear of a weak front end also looking largely resolved, the machine appearing responsive and nimble through the chicane and elsewhere. This will be a particular relief to Kimi Raikkonen who is thought to crave such handling. Indeed it even contributed to the normally impenetrable Finn describing the 2015 machine as “definitely an improvement”. Heck, before the test was out he was speculating about extending his contract beyond this season after all.

Sebastian Vettel meanwhile looks comfortable in his new environs already. The ready smile of before has returned, as reportedly has the extreme industry. One Autosport article speculated about his returning mojo.

Of course, it’s only testing (apropos of nothing McLaren topped the Jerez times 12 months ago), while Ferrari’s rivals didn’t show their hands to a great extent, due to variously not chasing headline times or having problems. Perhaps even with this Ferrari was on top by default. Further the gap that must be jumped to catch the Mercedes in one go is chasm like, and in fairness not many even of the red team’s most fervent fans are predicting that this begets a title challenge for 2015. But as Daniel Ricciardo noted of Seb’s 1m 20 mark, reflecting paddock consensus: “I don’t know the fuel, tyres, whatever but in any case it was a good time”, while Nico Rosberg admitted the Ferrari pace was an “eye opener” – albeit it was not said with a massive degree of outward concern.

Respectability, perhaps even competitiveness on occasion, looks well within reach at Maranello. All of a sudden the team’s aim in advance of two wins from the season strikes as a measly minimum expectation.

But if Ferrari’s sojourn in Jerez gave strong indication of a new dawn McLaren has to remain in the dark for a little longer. Various teething problems – sensors not talking to each other among other things – limited the car to 12 laps over the first two days, which itself followed on from two days of Abu Dhabi testing wherein it hardly ran at all. And while things picked up marginally thereinafter the team at the end was still clearly bottom on times and on distance covered. All in the team put a brave face on things, but it was well shy of the 60 laps on day two that Eric Boullier had said was the target.

While its Jerez experiences certainly were a set-back it also didn’t change anything for outsiders looking in – McLaren started the test as an enigma and ended it still as an enigma. All still has a ‘could go either way about it’, as was summed up by Ricciardo in the days prior to heading out to Jerez.

A difficult test for McLaren and Honda. Where can they realistically expect to be come Melbourne?

“The big question mark is McLaren with Honda” he said, “that’s probably the one everyone’s going to be watching. I think for the rest everyone will make sort of standard steps. It’s the one team that’s probably more unknown...they’ve probably got the best opportunity to make that big difference…they’ve got the cards to do it, it’s now whether they pull it off.”

All is not yet lost in other words. In a perverse way too the struggles even could be an encouraging sign, in that it shows a team taking things to the edge, which of course is exactly what it has to do to get back to the top. Certainly with the notable ‘size zero’ packaging and Ron Dennis talk of prioritising performance over reliability it appears this is what McLaren’s aiming for. And while of course they would say this, some in the team insist too that its simulations demonstrate that once all in the machine is working at once it’ll be bang on the money, as outlined by engineering director Matt Morris: “Obviously it would be nice to be a little bit further up, but we have got great simulation tools these days…If we look at that and add on where we should be, I am not worried really.”

It might not just be blarney either given that on a damp early part of day three Fernando Alonso set a purple sector and was only 4km/h shy of the Mercedes through the speed trap (though it was nowhere near as close in the dry), with a power unit reckoned to be at around half chat. The design too has impressed observers, not just in its rear shrink-wrapping but also in its revisions to what was a problematic front end last year. Driver feedback reportedly was positive also.

There are a few crumbs of comfort from the past for the Woking squad too. In 1984, when it swept the board, the MP4/2 barely turned a wheel (thanks to electrical problems, natch) until its final pre-season test, some three days before heading out to the first round. There even just over a year ago were horror stories emanating from Mercedes that its unit couldn’t run for more than a few minutes without blowing up its electrics. And for the reasons Ricciardo gave no one is close to writing the Woking effort off yet.

Red Bull is one perhaps grateful for McLaren struggles, as without them it may have been the Milton Keynes lot getting the bulk of unwelcome scrutiny. Scrub the Woking team and it is the Bulls that would be propping up both the mileage table and that of the headline times. Mainly the struggle was all down to niggling problems associated with the Renault power unit – ever so slightly redolent of its nightmarish opening test last year – though it wasn’t helped either on day two by debutant Daniil Kvyat damaging the team’s only front wing, leaving all inauspiciously to do what they could without one.

No one doubts that the chassis will once again be a jewel – and the camouflage livery suggests it has a few details it feels are worth hiding; the power unit remains the big question. And Adrian Newey suggested that 2015 will be another one of catch-up on that, and that it will preclude a championship challenge almost before things have begun.

“I think we should be realistic about our expectations for this year”, he said. “Mercedes have a very strong power unit…Renault are working away very hard at eliminating that deficit, but it does take time. Power units have a very long lead-time…slower than we're able to work at on the chassis side.

“This year will really be about continuing to try to move forward and reduce the deficit that we suffered at times last year. If we can manage the odd win, as we did last year, then that would be fantastic. But we can’t count on it. I think it’s really a season that will be very much about trying to extract the most we can and build on it for the future.”

Both Red Bull and Renault itself promise an “aggressive” programme of power unit development however. Optimistic noises continue to come out of the team (“hitting all the notes, just not necessarily in the right order” was how the team’s Twitter feed put it) plus as was on show in 2014 the squad remains a formidable one even in adversity.

Can Williams start where they left off in 2014? Initial signs seem to suggest so.

Williams by contrast does not have to worry about its power unit, and indeed as the closest Merc-powered challenger last year – on many weekends the closest challenger full stop – there are reasons to think it is best placed to get in terms with the imperious works team in 2015, by imitating the things that made the W05 chassis so strong last year.

In Jerez just like the works team the Williams wasn’t often seen near the top of the charts (not on lap time anyway – though mileage may have been curtailed by deliberately sitting in the garage when it was damp out). But we should remember that it is the Grove squad’s way to march resolutely to its own beat, and we may indeed recall that last season it tended to hide its light in Friday practice sessions too. As Valtteri Bottas said at Hockenheim last year, after clinching a front row spot having operated under the radar the day before: “We knew that after Friday there was nothing really to worry about it. I think maybe sometimes some other teams are more focusing on qualifying laps in practice rather than just testing.”

And in Jerez both drivers, again just like at Merc, emitted understated content, and spoke of notable improvements in handling. Observers thought the rear, a little loose last year, appears more stable now.

Most of the rest – at least among those who’d deigned to show up – also gave some indication that they’d made a step-up.

Lotus could hardly not have done of course, but not only does it have the free pass of a Mercedes power unit now it appears also to have righted a lot of its unpredictable handling, as was confirmed by Romain Grosjean: “Both the power unit and the chassis are going in the right direction. It’s a very good start and I’m a happy driver.”

Sauber like Ferrari lit up the timing screens in Jerez, and indeed led one day as well as tended to be the next car up after the Scuderia the rest of the time. This effort elicited a round of ‘glory run’ muttering, and it appears that not even the team thinks its place as second best is representative – Felipe Nasr said as much explicitly. But the C34 looks the sort of solid, neat and tidy design with sound handling that exemplifies the Swiss team at its best, and the rising tide of the improved Ferrari engine will lift the Sauber boat too. It is another car that has improved.

The Toro Rosso was harder to decipher. It did plenty of mileage, the squad unlike its big team apparently prioritising giving its young pilots experience. But observers out on track reckoned the car looked a bit evil. Nevertheless neither of the rookie drivers binned it and indeed the fledgling Max Verstappen turned a few heads, Peter Windsor even going so far as to say that his driving was a little reminiscent of Michael Schumacher in his debut Jordan test. Team Principal Franz Tost also is optimistic, talking about a fifth place in the constructors’ table and drivers “permanently in the points”.

But perhaps Jerez didn’t tell us much of anything, in that even before the test in southern Spain had we been asked to guess the lay of the 2015 land we’d likely have said that those behind the Mercedes would make a step, as in a close season of relative rule stability after a big shift that tends to be the way of things. Those behind learn from what made the hare quick. But even with that Merc would still be ahead – such was the size of its 2014 advantage it would not be eaten up in one bite. McLaren, almost alone, would be an unknown quantity. And that following the first four days’ running is broadly what we have. Who needs intelligence?