Things We Learned From F1 Testing in Barcelona

With Mercedes and Red Bull topping the standings in Barcelona testing, people are already saying it will be 2021 all over again. That's not necessarily true. Of course, the results from Barcelona are not so clear-cut, but there is still plenty we have learned from what happened in the three days of testing.

One of the most popular questions from last year was whether Mercedes and Red Bull will have enough time to develop the 2022 car after a titanic fight for both World Championships until the final race. In addition, they had the harshest restrictions on aerodynamic testing.

But after the three days in Spain, Mercedes drivers topped the timesheet with a one-two finish, and Red Bull's own Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were right behind them in third and fourth. However, these times are still potentially misleading because Mclaren and Ferrari seemed faster than the Silver Arrows on some sessions.

Ferrari appears to have had the most considerable growth. Due to finishing sixth in 2020, Ferrari had more wind tunnel time in the first half of last year. With lots of laps, a new engine that looks pretty powerful, good behavior in terms of balance and without reliabilities problems, Ferrari has a significant opportunity to return to its past glory.

The 2022 cars have a new "ground-effect" floor, meaning there is more suction under the vehicle to pull it to the track. As a result, more downforce is generated from under the car. Another new addition is the 18-inch tire with wheel winglets, which have been added to direct the airflow away from the rear wing.

In addition, the front wing has a simplified look to narrow the airflow. After these tests, there are conclusions that the new regulations have achieved their purpose in making it easier for cars to follow. However, we still don't know if that really allows for closer racing.

Mechanical issues are still a problem in this "New Era" of cars, but that's to be expected as this is one of Formula One's biggest steps into the unknown in recent history. For Alpine, Aston Martin, Haas, AlphaTauri, and Alfa Romeo, these mechanical problems stopped them from exiting the garage for another run. Missing an entire afternoon of testing will undoubtedly have hurt them in the long run.

For Haas, it was a nightmare week if we took into consideration that its title sponsorship has been involved in the Russia-Ukraine incidents. Besides, Haas, together with Alfa, completed the lowest number of laps this week, as various issues dragged back these two teams. Alfa Romeo and Haas were amongst the first teams to switch their focus to the 2022 season and these new regulations, so these problems come as major disappointments.

Porpoising represented a significant setback for every team after the new "ground-effects" changes. To understand better, porpoising occurs when the car gets sucked so close to the ground by the underfloor arrow that the diffuser stalls. This phenomenon leads to the rear end rising as the load is reduced then dropping back as the load builds up again. The real problem is represented by the frequency of this oscillation, which can lead to floor damage. Teams need to find a fine line to repair this problem without dropping performance.

The weight limit represents a significant challenge because certain aspects of the new cars will have to be heavier by design. Teams were very reticent about revealing whether they could run at the minimum weight.

The Barcelona testing helped us in creating a good idea of what to expect from this new season, but we should not take everything for granted.