There's a lot of truth in the usual sayings about the first day of testing not telling you a great deal about the season to come, but there's always something you can learn if you know where to look. And the opening day of 2018 pre-season testing at Barcelona has given us some hints.
A glance at the timesheets shows Red Bull fastest ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari. But while it would be a bit early to get excited about a three-team battle for the championship, there are some very encouraging signs for the season and there were also a few surprises today, which made it well worth hanging around a very chilly Barcelona to learn a few things.
When it comes to analysing performance, what we've seen today is a very tentative indicator of where everybody stands. Combine that with trackside observations, gathered during a couple of hours watching trackside on an increasingly cold afternoon, and we can see who the winners and losers are.