Ranking the F1 field from trackside

Spend a few hours during a Formula 1 test wandering around the track perimeter road watching the cars circulating and you'll regularly spot personnel from Formula 1 teams, and sometimes Pirelli, watching. And there's a very good reason for that.

It's because, for all the data analysis involved in the optimisation and understanding of grand prix cars, there's real value in seeing how the cars respond on track (on top of the other information they can gather). For all the valid caveats about fuel loads, tyre choice and run plans, a car can only do what it can do. When going fast, it does not lie. This is what makes the 'eye test' valuable.

In general terms, what strikes you is just how mature on track these cars now look. Just 10 days ago, when they were taking their first, tentative steps (admittedly many after a shakedown filming day), the characteristics were more clear and distinct.

But with pre-season testing almost complete and just Friday's running remaining, this now looks like a genuine field of F1 cars that teams, to a greater or less extent, understand how to get the most out of. And the overall competitive spread from front to back is pretty representative of what we would expect for the season.

Ranking them based on the eye test is not straightforward, but having watched the cars closely at a variety of corners at Barcelona's Catalunya circuit, it is possible to draw up a ranking based on how they look.

Pace is factored in, insofar as the car speed at the time informs judgements on the characteristics, but this is not about trying to adjust the lap times for a pure order. This is a ranking of the cars doing what the driver wants them to.

The biggest challenge is in the mid-pack. There, cars that look solid and consistent vie with those that have flashes of inspiration but hints of problems - choosing an order for those based on the eye test is a big challenge.

1 Mercedes

To rank the Mercedes top came as something of a surprise given how strong the Red Bull had looked earlier in testing. You could argue in the fast stuff the Red Bull had a slight edge, but in the slower corners the Mercedes looked outstanding.

There were a few moments when there were traces of instability for the Mercedes - nothing major. But on a long run for Lewis Hamilton through Campsa, the Turn 9 right hander that leads onto the back straight, a few times he had to make adjustments between turn-in and apex that Max Verstappen didn't have to in the Red Bull.

In the chicane, however, the Mercedes looked mighty. Hamilton is a master at rotating the rear on turn-in on the brakes, and this was a car that allowed him to practice that art to perfection, ensuring he carried good speed out and through the chicane.

2 Red Bull

The Red Bull looked stunningly composed in most corners on a long stint, and seemed to look after the tyres well enough to do that even as the run went on.

Through the flowing run from the Turn 1 right-hander, the kink at Turn 2 then into Turn 3 Verstappen was able to complete every direction change in one flowing movement. The only time he had any trouble in the long right-hander was when behind Hamilton, which caused him to lose downforce and run wide.

In the chicane, the car still looked good but not quite as consistent and predictable as the Mercedes. The one caveat is that it wasn't possible to watch him through that corner as much as others given he spent a lot of time in the garage at that point in the day. So that might have been a false read that costs the car number one in the eye test.

3 Ferrari

On the first day of testing, the Ferrari looked like the car to have. But seven days in, it has slipped down to third. That's not to say it's bad, because it isn't, but there are still signs that Ferrari has not got on top of the high rake it's now running.

Most strikingly, at Turns 3, 9 and the final corner, it sounded like the T-tray was scraping along the ground while cornering. Potentially this is down to the attitude of the car and suggests that Ferrari still has work to do in getting its mechanical platform right. A hint of imbalance on turn-in supports that suspicion.

There are still signs that Ferrari has not got on top of the high rake it's now running

While Vettel was on his race simulation, it did seem he was struggling a little more with the rear tyres going away than the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers towards the end of his stint. That doesn't necessarily point to an underlying problem, but it does make you wonder if the change in rake and connected set-up adaptations has made a difference to the car's tyre use.

4 Renault

It was no surprise to see the Renault looking well-balanced in the fast corners. While the car is not at Red Bull or Mercedes level, Carlos Sainz Jr was able to carry a good level of speed into Turn 3 and not suffer at any point in the corner. At Campsa, too, the car looked strong.

What was eye-catching in a less positive way about the Renault were the moments when it was reacting more to kerb strikes than any other car - by some margin. This wasn't a problem everywhere, but suggested the mechanical platform isn't quite right.

Asking Sainz about this after the day's running, he confirmed there were a few places where this is a problem, while technical director Nick Chester expects to have some work to do when Renault gets to bumpy Melbourne. The smoother track surface here has made working on this more difficult than it otherwise would have been.

This is a very congested part of the field, but the Renault did look pretty consistent when it wasn't jumping it over kerbs!

5 McLaren

The most striking thing about the McLaren was that, while watching at the chicane, it started off with a lot of movement at the rear under braking for Stoffel Vandoorne. While this wasn't disastrous, it did compromise his entry.

He gradually dialled it back and the rear was more planted, but in the heavier braking areas this characteristic was noticeable.

In the faster corners, the car looked lively enough. At Campsa, Vandoorne could carry good speed through the corner. But there were still times when it didn't look quite as planted as it perhaps looked early in testing.

At its best, the McLaren would be a contender to be ranked above the Renault, but there are foibles that need to be dialled out. Still, at least it completed a race distance, which looked a long shot given the awful reliability during the first six days of testing.

6 Haas

Before testing started, it seemed Haas was destined to be left behind this season with a car that did not have the complexity of its immediate rivals. But on track, this is clearly a package that is working.

It was probably at its weakest in the chicane, with Kevin Magnussen having to harry it through the left/right at the end of the lap slightly messily on occasion. But it seemed to be working for him and the pace of the car suggests there's merit in having an evolutionary car that you understand and that lets the driver push. The question is, how long will it take for others to overhaul it?

7 Toro Rosso

Early in testing there were some signs that the front end of the Toro Rosso wasn't quite as strong as it needed to be. Watching Pierre Gasly come through the Turn 2 left-hander then turn right into Turn 3 shortly after lunch, he couldn't get the car to do what he wanted.

Ideally, drivers want to take this sequence in a flowing movement, but Gasly couldn't simply turn in and carry the speed. He gamely worked to try to find a way to do it, but all he did was move the compromise around.

Once into the corner, the Toro Rosso looked decent enough and was able to hold a middle line between the strongest cars and the weakest ones in the exit phase of Turn 3. So, if this car can find that extra bit of bite on turn-in and have the balance for the rear to follow it, it looks handy.

8 Force India

Force India's testing plan has been to have a fairly straightforward car for testing, prove the mechanical platform and that the aero is working as hoped, then bolt on an upgrade worth half a second for the Australian Grand Prix.

Based on what Sergio Perez was doing on track, Force India does have a very good platform to work from. At Campsa, while he couldn't carry as much speed through the corners as the big three, there was nothing wrong with the balance and he was consistent while on a long run.

In the slower stuff, the car also looked thereabouts, with no obvious vices. If the upgrade does deliver the expected performance while maintaining those characteristics, Force India again has a car that it will be able to extract consistently good performance from.

Frankly, while it's down in eighth in this list, it would be remarkable if it's not far stronger come the season proper - after all, last season it also looked unremarkable in the winter, but this is a team that really knows what it's trying to get out of testing.

9 Williams

Some cars dance across the surface of a grand prix track with grace and precision, others look like they are struggling to hang on. The Williams was in the latter camp.

At Campsa, Lance Stroll could carry speed in, but was very often having a fairly wild ride come the exit. He was dealing with it fine but this suggests the Williams maybe has a certain skittishness when leaned on.

Lance Stroll could carry speed in, but was very often having a fairly wild ride come the exit

In the slower stuff, the car looked fine, but Stroll wasn't always able to turn in as decisively as he'd want to.

In the long Turn 3 right-hander, he was also finding himself wider than most come the exit phase of the corner. There's work to be done here.

10 Sauber

The combination of Marcus Ericsson and the Sauber didn't look bad on track, it just didn't look particularly quick.

Watching at the Campsa right hander, his mid-corner speed was poor and in the long Turn 3 right-hander he was drifting wide as the corner progressed. That's a tell-tale sign of a car that, while not badly balanced, doesn't quite have the downforce it needs.

But on the positive side, it looked relatively predictable and benign - until, of course, Ericsson looped it into the gravel at the Turn 4 right-hander.

In summary, the above is just a snapshot - based on a day's running and with a variety of programmes. But seeing many cars on race runs meant it was possible to evaluate them through a range of fuel loads.

Whatever the reality is, the rest should be very afraid of Mercedes.