Mercedes’ prolific running means it has concluded its Formula 1 testing at Barcelona already having completed considerably more mileage than any other team.
An incredibly productive three days at Barcelona for both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli ended Mercedes’ week at 500 laps exactly – more than 2300 kilometres of the Spanish Grand Prix venue.
Teams can run on three of five days from Monday to Friday and Mercedes wrapped up its allocation on Thursday having also run Monday and Wednesday.
The next-busiest team, Racing Bulls, ran the same schedule and has also ended its test with 319 laps completed.
But Ferrari is likely to have the second most productive test after Mercedes as its two days of testing, having only started on Tuesday, have already yielded 297 laps.
At the other end, Aston Martin’s arrival late in the day on Thursday meant it managed just four laps before stopping on-track.
Other teams lacking mileage going into the final day are new works team Audi, new entrant Cadillac, and reigning world champion McLaren after a fuel system problem on Thursday.
Laps completed by team
Team
Laps
Km
Mercedes
500
2,328.50
Racing Bulls
319
1,485.58
Ferrari
297
1,383.13
Haas
196
912.77
Red Bull
185
861.55
Alpine
185
861.55
McLaren
121
563.50
Cadillac
110
512.27
Audi
95
442.42
Aston Martin
4
18.63
This is obviously reflected in what each engine manufacturer has achieved this week.
Mercedes is well clear of Ferrari while new manufacturer Red Bull Powertrains has had an impressive first showing with the two Red Bull teams.
But Audi’s having an underwhelming first F1 test despite prioritising reliability and mileage with the form of its initial package – and Honda’s engine has had the most minor of shakedowns in the Aston Martin.
Laps completed by engine manufacturer
Laps
Kilometres
Mercedes
806
3,753.54
Ferrari
603
2,808.17
RBPT
504
2,347.13
Audi
95
442.42
Honda
4
18.63
Mercedes is not only the busiest team at Barcelona this week. It has also been comfortably quick, as much value as that holds at this stage of testing.
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have traded fastest times this week, with both the only drivers to go below 1m18s – and Russell even setting a 1m16.445s.
Monday pacesetter Isack Hadjar is still third quickest so far, but is 1.7s slower than Russell.
As this is still such an early stage of testing, and some drivers have not had much mileage, the field spread is abnormally large.
Even discounting Lance Stroll’s installation lap 1m46.404s there is a nine-second gap from Russell to Gabriel Bortoleto, who only managed a limited amount of running on Monday before a technical problem ended Audi’s day.
Newcomer Cadillac is currently 4.6s off the pace, level with Audi and 1.6s off the next team – but it is no surprise to see such a strong correlation between the number of laps a driver has completed and where they are on the unofficial testing leaderboard.
Fastest times
George Russell
1m16.445s
Kimi Antonelli
1m17.081s
Isack Hadjar
1m18.159s
Charles Leclerc
1m18.223s
Lando Norris
1m18.307s
Oscar Piastri
1m18.419s
Lewis Hamilton
1m18.654s
Liam Lawson
1m18.840s
Franco Colapinto
1m19.150s
Pierre Gasly
1m19.297s
Ollie Bearman
1m19.314s
Arvid Lindblad
1m19.420s
Max Verstappen
1m19.578s
Nico Hulkenberg
1m21.010s
Sergio Perez
1m21.024s
Esteban Ocon
1m22.456s
Valtteri Bottas
1m25.789s
Gabriel Bortoleto
1m25.434s
Lance Stroll
1m46.404s
Fernando Alonso
No time
Laps completed by driver
George Russell
265
Kimi Antonelli
237
Arvid Lindblad
167
Isack Hadjar
158
Charles Leclerc
155
Esteban Ocon
154
Liam Lawson
152
Lewis Hamilton
142
Franco Colapinto
118
Sergio Perez
77
Lando Norris
76
Nico Hulkenberg
68
Pierre Gasly
67
Oscar Piastri
48
Ollie Bearman
42
Valtteri Bottas
33
Max Verstappen
27
Gabriel Bortoleto
27
Lance Stroll
4
Fernando Alonso
0