As I've said a zillion times before over the
years, there's a reason F1 Pre-season testing is fondly called the Winter
Olympics, when the various Constructors are running their own agendas in
regards to their needs to pump up their image, woo prospective sponsors, grab
instant media Attenzione by being the Day's or Test's quickest, or A-L-L of the
above...
So please DON'T read too much into the three
winter test sessions held at Jerez and Barcelona this winter, which ALL of the
Formula 1 teams know the venues extremely well...
As here's some "Dated" symphonic rhapsody
to peak your interests regarding the fast approaching season opener Down
Under...
VIDEO: 2014 Ferrari F14T
Winter Test No. 1: Jerez, Feb 1-4, 2015
Although thee "Iceman," nee Kimi
Raikkonen & his Oomphlats finished P1, ahead of Sauber's Marcus Ericsson, thy young
"Louise 'JAGUAR" Hamilton was third, with the mighty Mercedes
"Silver Arrows" pounding out the most laps, and thus, do we really
think they'll be pushed down to "First Loser;" Err second place this
year?
Winter Test No. 2: Barcelona, Feb 19-22, 2015
Really like The Guardian's Paul Weaver's quip "Glory
Runs" when
describing Lotus's ascendency to the top of the time-sheets during the second
winter test; especially since, Pastor Maldonado being quickest half of the time
has an odd ring to it, right? And then
Lotus Team Leader Romain Grosjean capped off the Barcelona test by being
quickest on Day-4.
Although Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico
Rosberg's assorted health maladies made the newswires, obviously the biggest
news from the test was Fernando Alonso's shunt into the wall, for which he
apparently suffered a concussion and subsequently was flown to hospital for
precautionary checks.
And while Lotus's pace is encouraging, take
heed that the mighty Silver Arrows were nipping at their heels on the Prime
(Harder) medium rubber compound, whilst the Lotus pair, amongst others were
achieving their "Glory Run" times on the Option "Super
soft" Pirelli tyres instead. As meanwhile, reportedly Max Verstappen
continues to impress...
Winter Test No. 3: Barcelona, Feb 26-March 1, 2015
Ho Hum! Mercedes runners swept P1 all four
days, with Team Willy's Felipe Massa quickest on Day-1 and team-mate Valtteri
Bottas quickest on Day-4, with the Williams duo sandwiching the mighty Silver
Arrows, nee Mercedes GP, with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton blitzing the
field on Day's 2-3 respectively! As the Mercedes clearly look fastest prior to
Melbourne... Whilst Force India finally ran its VJM08 with no major problems to
curtail its running, unlike McLaren, who's had nothing but grief so far with
its new Honda PU. As McLaren's No. 1 driver Fernando Alonso sat out the entire
test due to his concussion and further elected to sit out the season opener in
Australia...
