7 teams hit to the track today (missing were all of the new teams plus Red Bull and Force India) and the times were confusing to say the least. I always follow a mantra that the quickest looking car is normally the quickest car so let's have a look at the 7 cars on the same piece of tarmac to see which looks the best (see left).
In my opinion, the best looking cars to be launched so far are the McLaren, Ferrari and Renault. The Williams seems to lack aggression, the Toro Rosso isn't a big enough step forward and the Sauber is disappointing. Looks wise, although I don't mind it, the Mercedes is also a bit of a brute too.
However, taking a look at the times there are one or two surprises:
1. Massa Ferrari 1:12.574 102 laps 2. de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1:12.784 74 laps
3. M.Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:12.947 40 laps
4. Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:13.543 39 laps
5. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.846 86 laps
6. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:14.449 75 laps
7. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:14.762 18 laps
8. Kubica Renault 1:15.000 69 laps
The first thing to say is that nothing can really be read into these times - different teams will be running different fuel loads to achieve different data for different aerodynamic/mechanical parts. However, I am led to believe that the majority of the testing will be done with a half full tank of fuel (that's 80Kg of fuel) as this is neither the extreme of heavy car nor worn out tyres (like the end of the race when the car is light) and thus this is where races will be won or lost.
So, assuming that everyone had the same fuel then this was very pleasing for Ferrari (especially if rumours are true that they don't think that this car is fast enough and have rushed a 'B-spec' into development) and even better for Sauber (who I expected to be propping up the table). Mercedes and McLaren were competitive and Williams were where I thought. Toro Rosso can be encouraged by the time considering that they only completed 18 laps but it is worrying that they had something preventing them running more than that. Kubica's time was poor; and I thought the Renault would be good. Now let's take a closer look.
Massa's time was still good and must be representative - I was monitoring the timesheets most of the day and he always seemed to be at the top so that bodes well. Having said that, he did run 20 laps more than anyone else and therefore had more chances to set a good lap time (plus was probably running quite light by the end).
If the Sauber is really good enough for 2nd out of the box then BMW might just start kicking themselves for pulling out. The sceptic inside me says that today was all about exploiting a close field and doing glory runs to attract sponsors. If it means survival for Sauber then I don't blame them but take their times with a pinch of salt.
Mercedes 3 and 4 is about right - this brute is quick. Don't read anything into Schumi ahead of Rosberg; Nico had the morning session when the track wouldn't have been as good (less 'rubbered-in' and cooler).
McLaren were 1 second off the pace but remember that it was Paffett driving which suggests that they were just running through protocols and checking that all the systems were working. This means doing laps on heavy loads, light loads and medium loads as well as testing the electronics etc. in preparation for Lewis and Jenson over the next couple of days. Paffett is not as quick as the other two anyway and if he wasn't allowed to set the car up for him - just made to run through procedures then you wouldn't expect him to top the table.
Williams will think that the Sauber was running light and therefore be encouraged by their time; particularly if set with a heavy fuel load.
As I have said, Toro Rosso encouraged too.
Renault though - I hope they were doing heavy runs or the team I declared a dark horse could just be a plain mule.
Performance of the day came from Massa but the main story is that it's all pretty close so far.
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