Having had time to digest their bitter defeat at the last World Championship, Mercedes & Lewis Hamilton has sent a strong message to its rivals in the last minutes of the pre-season tests in Spain. The Englishman has led the 1-2 of the German team this past Friday at the Circuit of Barcelona, setting the best overall time of the three days of testing.  

Behind the Briton came his new partner, George Russell. Red Bull’s Checo Perez and crown defender Max Verstappen concluded after the German arrows, which are silver again this year. Even if the times achieved in these testing sessions are not fully conclusive of the team’s performance; as fuel loads, working programs and car set-ups might vary between teams, they are revealing of their general condition. 

Therefore, and in case there was any doubt regarding Mercedes’ ability to navigate the new regulations, it is now clear that the W13 is on the right track. Even during those last minutes of the session, the Germans have been hiding their true potential and ‘taking their foot off the accelerator’, and still, they have shattered the times table.

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Their mechanics have also demonstrated to be as reliable as ever with zero issues recorded over the 393 laps that they have completed over the past three days.   

Their main rival, Red Bull, has also shone during the tests. After bewildering fans with a new and revolutionary concept for their RB18, the guys from Milton Keynes seem to have almost everything under control. 

Besides a small setback suffered by the Mexican driver on Thursday, the blue missiles have proved solid after completing a total of 358 laps over the three days. As a testimony of this, the Dutch champion has had nothing but praise for his new machine. Everything, therefore, indicates that the two teams in the 2021 World title race will come head-to-head again this season. 

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Ferrari: More kilometres and more reliability 

In all likelihood, Ferrari will again follow behind the two dominating teams. The squad from Maranello and its also revolutionary F1-75, has left good sensations. Unintentionally, Charles Leclerc dominated the Thursday session, a day after finishing second ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz. With a total of 439 laps, the Prancing Horse cars have been the ones covering the most kilometres on the Spanish asphalt without suffering any problem. 

A step below came McLaren (365 laps). Despite leading the first day of training (Wednesday) and a failure of Lando Norris, the British team is still clearly behind the leading trio. There is, however, still a chance to improve at the Bahrain tests (March 9-11) before the start of the World Championship, which is taking place on March 18 in that same country. 

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Commotion in Haas after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine  

The ‘ugly duckling’ of the preseason tests in Spain has been Haas ( only 160 laps). Besides their poor performance on the track and their various technical problems, the team has become the unintended protagonist of the event following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. 

The American team has made the decision to erase the name of its main sponsor, the Russian company Uralkali, from its VF22, as this has close ties with the country’s leader, Vladimir Putin. This past Friday, in fact, the car has come out onto the track with a plain white livery, as the blue and red colours of the Russian flag have also been removed.  

Team director, Güenther Steiner, stated this Friday that a decision will be made next week regarding the immediate future of their sponsor. If they decide to let go of Uralkali, Russian driver Nikita Mazepin could also lose his seat, but, most importantly, the very survival of the American team will be in jeopardy without its main source of income. 

https://twitter.com/HaasF1Team/status/1497167865450926080

Images of Barcelona F1 test: Mercedes.