What we learned from final F1 test

Formula 1's condensed pre-season testing schedule for 2016 has forced the teams to carry out a lot of work over eight days in a two-week period.

That hasn't left a lot of room for playing games with your opposition - unless you're Mercedes - so on the whole it's meant we have been given a lot of indications about what to expect when the season start in Australia in a fortnight.

But it wasn't just on-track at Barcelona that we were learning what's in store for 2016. As F1 continues to do itself more harm than good away from the circuit, the strains of testing led to a few cracks showing that are likely to be running themes throughout this year.

FERRARI HAS CLOSED THE GAP
Ben Anderson (@BenAndersonAuto)

Nico Rosberg is predicting a close fight between Mercedes and Ferrari when F1 gets to Melbourne, and close analysis of the pace each team showed across both short and long runs this week loosely supports his view.

If you discount Ferrari's headline-grabbing times on super-soft and ultra-soft tyres there was almost nothing to choose between F1's two biggest hitters over a single lap.

The gap was a bit bigger on the medium tyre, but track conditions in the mornings (when those times were usually set) tended to vary significantly, so Ferrari probably won't be too worried just yet.

What will be of concern is the stonking final stint Lewis Hamilton managed during his race simulation on Tuesday afternoon. Ferrari was pretty close with its earlier stints, but that one blew Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen away.

But, and there's always a but, these race simulations were all completed on different days, so are not directly comparable in the strictest sense.

Ferrari can take encouragement from that, and the fact it has been faster than Mercedes on the tyre with which Rosberg attempted some genuine qualifying practice this week, even if he later claimed Mercedes was trying hard to hide its true pace.

McLAREN STRUGGLING WITH ITS CHASSIS
Ben Anderson

"There's still a lot of work to be done to find a set-up that really works for us, because we're not there."

Jenson Button was none too impressed with his McLaren's handling when he drove the car for the first time this week on Wednesday, and his mood didn't improve much as McLaren struggled to tame the recalcitrant MP4-31.

Much has been made of Honda's struggles since it returned to F1, and the Japanese manufacturer is still behind in the power stakes despite redesigning its engine and improving the ERS over the winter, but McLaren's new car has introduced fresh headaches.

The team says this is a result of only being able to introduce a partial aerodynamic update to the car this week, owing to some parts not being ready in time.

The bits that did make it to Barcelona have not worked properly in isolation, creating some rear-end instability that McLaren cannot fix until the delayed parts are fitted.

That means McLaren will likely have a lot of work to do on set-up when it comes to free practice in Melbourne.

HAAS HAS COME BACK DOWN TO EARTH
Ian Parkes (@ianparkesf1)

It has been a topsy-turvy two weeks of testing for Formula 1 newcomer Haas.

The first test was a veritable success as drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez clocked a highly-respectable 281 laps with barely an issue, bar a front-wing failure on the morning of the first day for the Frenchman.

It appeared as if the team was benefiting considerably from all its planning and long lead time in reaching F1 - having had 22 months to prepare since its entry was confirmed in April 2014.

But the second test highlighted how quickly the rug can be pulled from under you. A fuel system issue, two turbo failures and a brake-by-wire problem that twice pitched Grosjean into the gravel on the third day resulted in the team completing just 193 laps.

Ordinarily, you would have expected such a poor showing to have affected Haas over the first four days before recovering with the kind of form it showed in test one.

Instead, Haas has done things back to front. According to Gutierrez, it highlighted Haas's professionalism in being able to respond quickly to issues, and to fix them, which he feels can only stand it in good stead.

Haas may have been brought back down to earth, but from there the only way is up.

HALO DIVIDES OPINION
Lawrence Barretto (@lawrobarretto)

Ferrari caused a stir on Thursday when it bolted its version of the halo head protection system to Kimi Raikkonen's car for his installation lap.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg were pretty scathing about the device. Hamilton described it as one of the worst changes in F1 history and hoped it was optional because he didn't want to use it. Hulkenberg said it was "horrible".

Most felt it was "ugly" but that it was the right thing to introduce given it would help improve safety.

Vettel perhaps put it best when he said the aesthetics were irrelevant because the priority is to save drivers' lives.

Ferrari and Red Bull are expected to maintain work on their individual proposals while the FIA will continue evaluating the options.

WORLD CHAMPIONS ARE HITTING OUT
Glenn Freeman (@glenn_autosport)

Outcry from fans and onlookers feels like it's nothing new in Formula 1 these days. But when the biggest names on the grid start hitting out at the way F1 is heading, perhaps it really is time for the decision-makers to take notice.

Within minutes of each other this week, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso - with 75 wins and five world championships between them - were expressing their unhappiness with F1's direction.

Alonso said the farcical handling of the changes to the qualifying rules made him "sad", adding that "it doesn't look right" to outsiders when F1 chiefs "pretend to change".

Meanwhile, when Hamilton was asked if F1 is broken, lacking direction, or in rude health, he responded: "I do agree with the first two things you said."

During the course of the same media call Hamilton said MotoGP is more exciting and has closer racing than F1, and he hinted that he didn't understand why the new restrictions on radio communication were being introduced, before declining to give a "soundbite" on the halo cockpit protection device demonstrated by Ferrari this week.

Later that evening he took to his Instagram account to voice his disapproval of the design, calling it "the worst looking mod in Formula 1 history".

In an era when drivers rarely speak out in public, the significance of the biggest stars making their feelings known should not be underestimated.

RENAULT KNOWS WHERE IT STANDS
Glenn Freeman

Over the course of the final test, teams gradually started to hint at having an idea of where they are in the 2016 pecking order. Amusingly, very few of them were painting the same picture of how the grid stacks up.

But Renault was consistent with its belief on where it expects to find itself in Australia, and that's just outside the top 10.

"We are around the points, maybe just outside, on a good day," said Kevin Magnussen. "If we can get points from Melbourne that's a good day."

Renault's chief technical officer Bob Bell supported that theory, suggesting the team's target is to finish sixth in the constructors' championship.

If you have the sixth best car, you're going to find yourself 11th and 12th - just outside the points - all things being equal.

WILLIAMS IS VERY CONFIDENT
Lawrence Barretto

Williams felt low-speed gains had been made after the first week of testing but refused to be drawn on its place in the pecking order.

But as the focus switched from reliability to performance, the team began emitting a whiff of confidence that has steadily grown throughout the second week.

Technical director Pat Symonds spoke of hitting the numbers while chief test engineer Rod Nelson went as far as to say Williams can get ahead of Ferrari and into second behind Mercedes.

The drivers, though refusing to set targets, had a bounce in their step and seemed happy with the performance of the car too.

New parts are expected for Australia with a new short nose planned for round two in Bahrain, pending the passing of crash tests.

Though those inside the team are not shouting about it, there's a genuine feeling Williams is in for a good year.

TORO ROSSO-FERRARI IS BULLETPROOF
Glenn Freeman

Reliability prevented Toro Rosso's very good STR10 chassis from achieving as many eye-catching results as it should have in the hands of star rookies Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr last year.

The team hoped its switch from Renault to year-old Ferrari engines would rectify that, and testing appears to have proven that is the case.

Despite the late confirmation of the change to Ferrari, which compromised the 2016 car's design, Toro Rosso logged a phenomenal amount of laps over the two tests, finishing pre-season just 17 laps short of the total completed by world champion Mercedes.

"To do so many laps is such a big achievement after such a tough winter," said Sainz. "To be the second best team in laps behind Mercedes shows this team can do really great things.

"Last year I wouldn't have dreamed of doing this many laps. We are doing laps, laps, laps, and nothing is breaking."

RENAULT'S ENGINE IS IMPROVING
Ben Anderson


Renault and Red Bull have both endured a difficult start to each of the last two campaigns, but this pre-season has been much better.

They may not be as close as they once were, now that Renault is focusing on rebuilding a competitive works entry and Red Bull has forsaken the Renault name in favour of a watchmaker sponsor, but smoother running on track should help to heal the wounds caused by last year's messy public arguments.

Whether or not Renault has actually made the 0.5s laptime gain it claims to have reached over the winter, its engine is certainly more reliable and more driveable than at any stage since V6 turbo hybrids became the latest fad.

Now Renault is properly committed to F1 again, and its base engine specification is not throwing up fresh problems, it should be able to develop more consistently.

That should eventually allow Red Bull to make better use of what looks an excellent chassis in the RB12, and would likely go a long way towards re-enforcing a relationship that was stretched to near-breaking point after two seasons of severe underperformance.