New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nHadjar\u2019s lap is largely meaningless anyway. For reference, pole at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last year was almost seven seconds faster than the Frenchman\u2019s opening-day effort. Even the best time in FP1 was almost 4.5 seconds faster.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t a reflection on the speed of the new cars but of the combination of wintry conditions and the lack of focus on performance running so early in the pre-season campaign.<\/p>\n
Reliability was the name of the game \u2014 and will remain the name of the game until the final days of the final test in Bahrain next month.<\/p>\n
With new power units allied to new chassis, validating the reliability of all systems is the first challenge.<\/p>\n
On that count, though, we did glean some valuable information.<\/p>\n
Norris confident of going back-to-back | 00:51<\/p>\n
ESTABLISHED MANUFACTURERS LEAD \u2014 WITH ONE BIG SURPRISE<\/p>\n
Mercedes was first on track, scoring a minor victory over German rival Audi, which had previously intimated it intended to roll out of the garage first as a statement on its readiness for the season.<\/p>\n
Mercedes entered the test with more laps than anyone under its belt after completing just shy of 200 kilometres of Silverstone in a private shakedown last week.<\/p>\n
Though it came close to setting the benchmark again on the first day of all-in running, it was beaten by Ferrari customer team Haas by the finish.<\/p>\n
Haas set an unmatched 154 laps for the day, all at the hands of Esteban Ocon.<\/p>\n
For reference, that\u2019s almost two and a half times the distance of the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix \u2014 in fact that\u2019s more laps than either Haas driver completed across the entire Barcelona weekend last year.<\/p>\n
Mileage by team, day 1<\/p>\n
1. Haas-Ferrari: 154 laps (717.2 kilometres)<\/p>\n
2. Mercedes: 151 laps (703.2 kilometres)<\/p>\n
3. Red Bull Racing: 107 laps (498.3 kilometres)<\/p>\n
4. Racing Bulls-RBPT: 88 laps (409.8 kilometres)<\/p>\n
5. Alpine-Mercedes: 60 laps (279.4 kilometres)<\/p>\n
6. Cadillac-Ferrari: 44 laps (204.9 kilometres)<\/p>\n
7. Audi: 27 laps (125.7 kilometres)<\/p>\n
Mercedes completed only three laps fewer, but perhaps most impressive was Red Bull Racing, for which Hadjar set 107 laps.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing is powered this year by its first in-house power unit. Red Bull Powertrains started from scratch in a brand-new factory at Milton Keynes, and though it aggressively poached staff from rival manufacturers, particularly Mercedes, it had never built an engine before.<\/p>\n
Though much has been made of Ford\u2019s involvement, Red Bull had completed the first version of its engine before the American marque joined the project.<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls had completed some laps with the motor at a private test in Imola, but at the first time of asking for some extensive running, it appeared to run without problem.<\/p>\n
Hadjar said reliability surprised even the team, saying \u201ca lot more laps than expected\u201d were completed.<\/p>\n
There are some reports that Liam Lawson\u2019s Racing Bulls car stopped on track, as did Alpine\u2019s Franco Colapinto and Audi\u2019s Gabriel Bortoleto.<\/p>\n
Stoppages aren\u2019t a guaranteed sign of a problem. Teams undertake a fuel run-out test during pre-season testing to verify that the fuel pump can scavenge all the fuel in the tank. Normally these happen near the end of the first or second session of a day to minimise the disruption for others.<\/p>\n
Alpine admitted to experiencing \u201ca few minor issues\u201d that set it back, though it didn\u2019t link this directly to the stoppage.<\/p>\n
The cause of Lawson\u2019s stoppage is unclear, but Audi admitted to technical problems and didn\u2019t return to the track for the rest of the day, leaving it with a limited 27 laps.<\/p>\n
Cadillac also got relatively little running completed, though team boss Graeme Lowdon said that was a matter of priorities rather than an issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could have run more laps this afternoon or we could have looked to solve certain problems, make sure that they\u2019re solved and tick those off the list,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the most important thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very much focused on using this time in Barcelona to shake down all these systems, iron out all of the various gremlins and then be on the front foot for Bahrain.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the first car the Cadillac team has ever built, and it\u2019s understandable that it would encounter problems getting it to work.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the opposite problem being experienced by Audi, which is an established team \u2014 Sauber up until the end of last year \u2014 but with an all-new motor.<\/p>\n
Breaking that data down by power unit reveals a stark picture of reliability.<\/p>\n
Mileage by power unit<\/p>\n
1. Mercedes: 211 laps (982.6 kilometres)<\/p>\n
2. Ferrari: 198 laps (922.1 kilometres)<\/p>\n
3. Red Bull Powertrains: 195 laps (908.1 kilometres)<\/p>\n
4. Audi: 27 laps (125.7 kilometres)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s notable that the two most established manufacturers \u2014 Mercedes and Ferrari \u2014 ended the day with the most laps. Red Bull Powertrains put in an impressive shift across its two teams too, accumulating close to the same amount of data. They\u2019ll all be pleased with that return.<\/p>\n
Audi, however, clearly has work to do.<\/p>\n
The German marque has demonstrated the double challenge it\u2019s facing this year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just that it\u2019s using an all-new motor that it\u2019s only just developed. It\u2019s also that it has no customers. The only mileage it can put on its power unit is whatever the works team manages to complete.<\/p>\n
Consider, for example, that Ferrari has accumulated a healthy number of laps without even being at this test.<\/p>\n
\u201c[We] decided to switch the car off on track,\u201d Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got plenty of testing this year and we wanted to really understand the problem, so we\u2019ve been carefully analysing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s of course only one power unit manufacturer right now in a more troublesome spot than Audi \u2014 and unlike Audi, it has yet to make it to the test.<\/p>\n
Ricciardo & Max reunite for track day | 01:18<\/p>\n
ASTON MARTIN TO MISS FIRST THREE DAYS<\/p>\n
Aston Martin confirmed on the opening day of the test that it wouldn\u2019t be in attendance until Thursday at the earliest, making it the second team after Williams \u2014 which won\u2019t be turning up at all \u2014 that won\u2019t make the most of the maximum three days available to it in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
The British team didn\u2019t give a reason for its delayed appearance, saying only that its \u201cintention is to run Thursday and Friday\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntention\u201d isn\u2019t a word brimming with confidence.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s bad news not just for the team but also for Honda. The Japanese brand is supplying only Aston Martin this season in a de facto works arrangement.<\/p>\n
Though Honda has been part of the sport since 2015, its partial withdrawal in 2021 and ensuing loss of staff makes this an almost entirely new project.<\/p>\n
Speculation has linked the delay to an overweight chassis, but Honda has been open about its struggles building the new power unit. Though the engine rules were published in 2022, it didn\u2019t confirm its Aston Martin relationship until almost halfway through 2023, putting it at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n
The Japanese marque admitted at its season launch earlier this month that it suspected it was behind the curve with its internal combustion engine.<\/p>\n
All power units must be homologated on 1 March, after which date no ordinary development is allowed until next year.<\/p>\n
Aston Martin is helmed by design legend Adrian Newey, who is pairing his role as managing technical partner with the position of team principal this season.<\/p>\n
Red Bull Racing regularly skipped testing days when Newey was its chief technical officer, with the Briton preferring to maximise development time rather than mileage.<\/p>\n
Is the same strategy being applied this year? If the team turns up on Thursday and enjoys a productive day with a mature car, the losses will be limited.<\/p>\n
If there are problems, however, and the teams completes few laps before the end of the test, it will have less time than, say, Audi and Cadillac to troubleshoot before the car is sent to Bahrain, and the delay will be compounded.<\/p>\n
Aussie Jack Doohan released by Alpine | 00:36<\/p>\n
PRIVATE MEANS PRIVATE<\/p>\n
Formula 1 teams agreed to limit their posts on social media to barely a handful of photos. Formula 1 itself was the only form of media on site, but even it shared limited updates, though it did compile a 10-minute highlight package of the day.<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t just a case of locking the gates, however.<\/p>\n
The Race reported that security services were moving people on even from public areas with incidental views of the track.<\/p>\n
At the northern end of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya \u2014 the final sector of the track \u2014 there\u2019s a large clearing on a hill as along a walking trail that offers a vantage point of the track. It\u2019s well known by locals and photographers who often use it to get a glimpse of the circuit.<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly it was busy for the first day of the private test.<\/p>\n
Less than half an hour into the test, however, security was deployed to disperse onlookers from the public land.<\/p>\n
The argument, according to The Race, was that anywhere with a view of the track was off limits because the track owned the view.<\/p>\n
You have to feel for the security guards, who spent the day chasing media and spectators across the various other public vantage points of the track, moving them only to find them set up somewhere else.<\/p>\n
It was an unusually muscular move by whoever organised the security considering F1 and the teams were all willingly sharing photos and videos of the cars, even if in a limited capacity.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen what new strategies will be employed on Tuesday \u2014 by both would-be viewers and the security guards.<\/p>\n
Benny Hill Show theme song at the ready.<\/p>\n
Incredible scenes on Day 6 Dakar Rally | 01:18<\/p>\n
WHAT\u2019S NEXT?<\/p>\n
Ferrari is set to appear today after completing a limited-laps private shakedown at its private Fiorano track last week \u2014 another circuit with well-known public vantage points, though no move-on orders were issued there.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a chance McLaren\u2019s 2026 car \u2014 kitted out in a special all-black testing livery \u2014 will hit the track on today, with principal Andrea Stella saying the team would make it to Barcelona on either Tuesday or Wednesday after completing extensive virtual track testing in Austria.<\/p>\n
Both, however, might be delayed until Wednesday owing to the weather forecast, which suggests there\u2019s an increasing risk of rain as the day goes on.<\/p>\n
Teams can\u2019t split their three-day testing allocation over extra days. Once they leave pit lane, one of their three days is ticked off no matter how many laps they complete.<\/p>\n
Given systems testing and reliability is key at this point of the year \u2014 especially if it\u2019s a team\u2019s first day on track \u2014 running may be effectively called off until Wednesday, from when the risk of rain is much lower.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Bull Racing ended the first day of Formula 1\u2019s secret opening test in Barcelona with the fastest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2074,228945,223188,13273,14212,1724,64,223185,63,3159,936,937,23062,84696,16185,228952,51270,22304,2057,817,22756,168856,813,816,181922,228927,3875,2093,228939,17670,228932,34887,16215,228926,2328,16183,37234,7983,228929,825,225377,228954,228928,228936,228935,228949,228955,228934,25586,18923,223944,228944,51043,225387,228930,228941,228933,12022,228947,220220,194449,228951,111191,228950,3595,2020,85,228938,228948,13773,228946,228931,23082,228940,228942,12000,2062,228937,16198,228953,228943],"class_list":["post-439993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-adrian-newey","tag-all-new-motor","tag-american-marque","tag-andrea-stella","tag-arvid-lindblad","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-aussie-jack-doohan","tag-australia","tag-austria","tag-bahrain","tag-barcelona","tag-british-team","tag-combustion-engine","tag-customer-team","tag-day-chasing-media","tag-engine-rules","tag-esteban-ocon","tag-europe","tag-f1","tag-final-sector","tag-final-test","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-fuel-pump","tag-fuel-run-out-test","tag-george-russell","tag-german-marque","tag-german-rival","tag-graeme-lowdon","tag-highlight-package","tag-imola","tag-in-house-power-unit","tag-incidental-views","tag-italy","tag-japanese-brand","tag-japanese-marque","tag-jonathan-wheatley","tag-managing-technical-partner","tag-max-verstappen","tag-maximise-development-time","tag-minor-issues","tag-move-on-orders","tag-official-timing-data","tag-opening-test","tag-opening-day-effort","tag-ordinary-development","tag-partial-withdrawal","tag-pit-lane","tag-power-unit","tag-power-unit-manufacturer","tag-power-units","tag-pre-season-testing","tag-preseason-testing","tag-privacy-provisions","tag-private-test","tag-problems-getting","tag-province-of-barcelona","tag-public-vantage-points","tag-ricciardo-amp-max","tag-season-launch","tag-secret-opening-test","tag-security-guards","tag-security-services","tag-southern-europe","tag-spain","tag-sports","tag-surprise-team","tag-systems-testing","tag-team-principal","tag-team-turns","tag-testing-allocation","tag-theme-song","tag-track-testing","tag-valuable-information","tag-western-asia","tag-western-europe","tag-works-arrangement","tag-works-team","tag-worrying-update","tag-would-be-viewers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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