Why Mercedes' rivals should be afraid

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

A short, simple phrase that serves as a warning to Formula 1 following a demonstration in what can only be described as Teutonic reliability and efficiency from Mercedes over its four days of running at Barcelona's Catalunya circuit in the first pre-season test.

After two years of domination of F1, winning 32 of 38 grands prix and back-to-back drivers' and constructors' titles, and given the relative stability in the rules from last season to this, only complacency can undermine Mercedes this year.

On the evidence provided, as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg pounded round F1's proven test track for lap after lap after lap, there is nothing to suggest Mercedes is resting on any laurels.

Statistics do not lie, and this week's make for highly impressive reading, perhaps even eye opening to Mercedes' rivals - Ferrari in particular - who would have come into the test with hopes high of eating into the German manufacturer's advantage.

Rosberg picks up another set of mediums in the bulletproof W07 © XPB

As part of a very bold run plan designed to prove out the car, to detect any flaws or weaknesses, to make it bulletproof, Mercedes opted to complete the four-day test without any of the three compounds of soft tyre.

Instead, with the exception of a short stint on intermediates on Monday morning when the track was damp, the car used nothing but set after set of the medium compound.

What has been witnessed has been a phenomenal - arguably frightening for the opposition - effort from Hamilton and Rosberg.

Between them they completed a total of 675 laps - the former 343, the latter 332 - amounting to 1952 miles, or effectively 11 grands prix at this track.

To put that into context, over the 12 days of testing last season - with the first test at Jerez, and the second and third at Barcelona - Mercedes amassed 3803 miles.

It means in four days this week it has achieved just over half the total accrued from last year, hitting a target aimed for prior to the start of the test.

As executive technical director Paddy Lowe remarked at the end of day one: "We are trying to cram the same job into two-thirds of the time.

"We are trying to do more mileage a day than we did last year, but at the same time we are also trying to go through the same process of learning."

Mercedes did that, and then some, and we have still to see precisely what the F1 W07 Hybrid is truly capable of given it has yet to run on the soft, super-soft, or Pirelli's new tyre for this season, the ultra-soft.

Rosberg admits Mercedes is "holding back" and it knows its car is quick © XPB

As Rosberg stated, Mercedes has undeniably been playing a waiting game.

"We haven't shown our cards yet," he said. "We're still holding back, and the car is quick.

"The opposition also seems to be quick, so how quick we are nobody knows for now, but we are confident."

In essence, it is like waiting for a monster to be set free.

Certainly, Hamilton showed signs of there being an itch he wanted to scratch after his second outing in the car on Wednesday.

"I'm just waiting for the day when we have more tyres and use the super-soft and the ultra-soft, and start unleashing it and see how it goes," said Hamilton.

"Those are the test days I actually prefer, when you can find out what the car is like, make some set-up changes. When you're pounding round, it's less exciting."

Hamilton concluded his week's work with 99 laps on Thursday morning, taking him to a fraction shy of 1000 miles so far, but ultimately hitting what he thought was a "crazy" target set by Mercedes ahead of testing.

Hamilton isn't a fan of "pounding round"; he wants to unleash his new car © LAT

But as far as the 31-year-old is concerned, "half the battle" has been won as he has been blown away by the reliability of the car.

Hamilton should get the opportunity at some stage next week to see if Mercedes can emerge victorious in the other half of the fight when it comes to performance.

But even then do not expect Mercedes to show its full hand. Instead it will only perhaps tease by displaying a couple of aces.

For now, Mercedes is displaying all the signs it has taken a significant step. Just how considerable that is remains to be seen.

After four titles over two years, the thirst for more is unquenched, underlined by Lowe as he summarised the work that took place at the team's factory in Brackley, and AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth over the winter.

"We do a lot of work behind the scenes to keep raising the bar of how well we engineer the car and how well we test it, in advance, in its discreet elements, to make sure when we actually get to the track it all functions as we intended," said Lowe.

"That's a process that has got better, year on year, as we see the cars in general in Formula 1 becoming more reliable, year on year.

A Ferrari crew member keeps an eye on Mercedes © LAT

"That's a function of better engineering, and we would like to be the ones at the avant garde of that, leading the way."

With the rules for this year barely altered from last season, Mercedes should be in the box seat as there is potentially little scope for the likes of Ferrari and Williams to cash in with big innovations and close the gap.

On the other hand, when you feel you may be close to perfection anyway, there is always the possibility of a convergence in performance, leaving Mercedes in a position to be attacked.

That is motorsport boss Toto Wolff's concern, but he has no doubt all within the team have pulled their weight to keep Mercedes out in front.

"The priorities over the winter were to increase and extract performance out of the power unit and chassis, and to make it all fit together," said Wolff.

"Because the regulations were stable it became more difficult, the slope levelled out, but this is the right challenge for the organisation, the people, to extract the last bit of performance."

Mercedes certainly showed this week at Barcelona no stone is being left unturned as it added parts to the car over days three and four, already a clear indication it was striving for performance and set-up.

Alonso expects Mercedes to be even harder to beat than in 2014-15 © XPB

Contrast that to Ferrari which, as Kimi Raikkonen revealed on Thursday following his second day at the wheel, hasn't "really done an awful lot of set-up work".

The warning signs are ominous, so for now, we will leave the final word to a man who would likely give anything to be in the race boots of Hamilton or Rosberg.

It is too much to expect anyone from Mercedes to blow its own trumpet because even if they are playing it cool when it comes to pace and refusing to offer an insight, they will know deep down exactly what the car can do.

So in terms of offering an outside-looking-in perspective, and who will know exactly what a rival car is capable of, it is over to Fernando Alonso.

The question was a simple one - whether McLaren can win this year - but the two-time champion instead turned his attention to Mercedes.

"I'd like to say yes, but the Mercedes domination has not finished," said Alonso "They are very, very strong, and they are doing some interesting days of testing.

"With that amount of laps, it means you have very clear things, so when you add the potential they are stronger than ever, even more than the last two years."

Time for the opposition, then, to be afraid.