Formula 1 is a sporting event where the performance of
the cars is directly proportionate to the performance of the drivers. One of
the most important part of Formula 1 is the testing circuits where detailed
analysis of the car is done for further enhancement. Circuit testing often
represents a slanted picture of the season to come, but if two weeks at the
Circuit de Catalonia taught us anything it’s that Ferrari has made a huge step
forward over this winter.
Ferrari’s 2014 performance was not much up to the
expectations, but the Italian team has been able to come back with a great pace
making fast progresses. Ferrari wriggled to break out of the midfield in the
2014 season, and its average qualifying time was 1.22s which was less as compared
to rivals Mercedes. The biggest mistake of 2014 was on the power unit side, and
Ferrari quite remarkably covered it up in the next season 2015 by almost
halving the average qualifying gap to Mercedes to 0.67s.
Analyzing of lap times in testing circuits is done with
caution as it varies with fuel loads and track conditions, but at the final
test Rosberg who represents Mercedes and Kimi Raikkonen representing Ferrari obtained
lap times that solicited for an assessment. So, two different times were set on
alternate days, Rosberg's was given to drive on day one when track temperatures
were warmer and Raikkonen's on the marginally cooler day three, but both were
driving cars with soft tyres and relatively low fuel. They were split by a time
of 0.013s in the favor of Ferrari.
Mercedes and Ferrari, both the team kept very different
testing schedule this winter. Mercedes focused on a staple run-plan of heavy
fuel and medium tyres and abstained from using the ultra-soft or super-soft
tyres during the two weeks of circuit testing in Spain. However, Mercedes conducted
a pair of quick qualifying mockups on soft tyres. Rosberg set his soft-tyre
benchmark with a time of 1:23.022 during the first of these on Tuesday morning.
Fellow driver Lewis Hamilton was 0.6s off Rosberg on his qualifying simulation
the following morning, which was the biggest ever gap between the two driver
over the past two years in a competitive qualifying session.
Ferrari, on the other hand was keener to experiment on
low fuel and pandered in a number of quick laps on Pirelli's two softest
compounds to set the absolute fastest laps in both tests. Raikkonen's lap timing
was a resounding 1:23.009 which was 0.013s faster to Mercedes’s Rosberg lapping
time. The two lap time was then compared and analyzed, implying the competitive
battle that has been going around these two juggernauts in the F1 world.
Well, testing circuits are one thing, but championships
are won over longer runs with heavy fuel loads on race days. Circuit de
Catalunya has always been Mercedes' happiest hunting grounds. But, this time
the analyzed results are telling a different stories and is pointing the
advantage towards the rivals Ferrari. But nobody can be too sure, as the real
analyzing of lap time is done on race days and not on circuit testing days.
However, if seen from the mileage point of view,
Mercedes is the winner over this winter running over 19 races completing over
1294 laps. Ferrari on the other hand have ran a distance of only 13 laps. Suppose
even if Ferrari's enhancements do not encompass to race-winning pace at a
circuit as aero-sensitive as the Circuit de Catalunya, the testing circuit
results still represents a step forward. Ferrari's comeback since 2014 has been
truly noteworthy and that day is not far away when Ferrari will finally take
over Mercedes.
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