Why under-the-radar Red Bull should be feared
Mercedes has been quickest, Ferrari has impressed. Red Bull has gone comparatively unnoticed in the first week of 2017 testing - but its quiet confidence could be well-founded
On the bare face of it, Red Bull has had a pretty quiet start to pre-season testing. While Mercedes and Ferrari have dominated the timesheets and lap counts, the squad most expect to be Mercedes' main Formula 1 rival in 2017 has lagged behind. Not far behind, but behind nonetheless.
Mercedes has been its usual relentless self - logging huge numbers of laps of Barcelona's Catalunya circuit, setting the outright pace, already experimenting with some of the W08's aerodynamic appendages, so confident in the reliability of its new engine that Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton have already completed full race simulations. The world champion team has managed 558 laps in total over four days of running, equivalent to more than eight Spanish Grands Prix.
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