Last week, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya , the teams and drivers had the first in-depth examination of their Formula 1 cars for 2022, the first to be developed under the new technical regulations, which makes the three days of tests in Spain are an important moment for everyone to see how they are facing the start of the season.
At the same time, it is difficult to draw any real conclusions from the tests, as all the teams were working on their own programs and not all of them went out to set fast laps because some were looking for reliability.
This also makes it all guesswork when it comes to team potential. The Mercedes set the two fastest times of the week, but Lewis Hamilton and George Russell needed the softer C5 tire to do so.
Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez was third on C4 tyres, and Max Verstappen was sixth on C3. Together with the 358 laps completed, this is an excellent feeling for the Austrian team, according to the brand’s advisor, Helmut Marko .
“We’re satisfied. I’m sure we had more fuel than most,” he told F1 Insider . Regarding the classification, he has an idea of how the cards have been shuffled: “I think we are at the same level as Mercedes and a little ahead of Ferrari.”
At RTL Germany , Marko delved a little deeper into the balance of power in 2022, and sees three teams in contention for victory, but he also knows that the order in Bahrain will be determined in the coming weeks.
“Ferrari has taken a step forward. I see that apart from Mercedes and Red Bull, Ferrari has joined, and I think there will be little change in the order before the first race, but the set-up is going to determine which of the three takes the lead,” commented Marko.
The Austrian also sees McLaren as the fourth power despite its excellent performance in testing: “The distances are less than in recent years, I think McLaren is stronger, but it is not yet in front.”
Within Red Bull itself, good feelings prevail after the Barcelona test, as confirmed by the advisor of the Milton Keynes team: “In general, both the speed and the distance traveled were satisfactory.”
The concept of the new F1 cars works well now that it has been seen that the drivers can chase each other a little better in the corners, and the feeling of the drivers in the RB18 is good: “Both Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen got into the car and they said ‘yeah, it looks good.’ Of course, we still have weak points, but it seems like they can be solved with relatively little technical effort, so first impressions were good.”
