Jerez Winter Test Analysis: Mercedes and Ferrari set the Pace

Winter has come and gone in a blur, and the Formula 1 circus is back in full swing. After a series of car launches (all bar Force India have unveiled their 2015 challenger) with some being in nice new colours and others not so, eight of the nine teams headed to Jerez to take part in the first test of the year, and to see who has made progress over  the winter months.

Jerez Winter Test Day 1

A somewhat familiar face was at the top of the timesheets on the first day, albeit in very unfamiliar attire. Sebastian Vettel set the pace whilst the cars proved to be significantly more reliable than 12 months ago. Vettel, driving the SF15-T was over a tenth of a second ahead of another driver in unfamiliar machinery – Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber C34. However the main surprise was the superior reliability of the Mercedes W06 driven by Nico Rosberg, which clocked in a staggering 157 laps – more than two Grand Prix distances, with a lot of his laps being very similar in pace. At the other end of the spectrum, Lotus turned up fashionably late and did no running, whilst Fernando Alonso only managed six laps in his McLaren-Honda MP4-30.

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF15-T, 1:22.620, 60 laps
2. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari C34, +0.157, 73
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W06, +0.486, 157
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault RB11, +0.718, 35
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes FW37, +1.286, 73
6. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso-Renault STR10, +2.707, 46
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda MP4-30, +18.118, 6

Jerez Winter Test Day 2

Mercedes started where they left off on the second day, with Lewis Hamilton clocking in 91 laps in the morning before a water leak sidelined him for the rest of the day. However, Vettel and the other Sauber of Felipe Nasr were the cars setting the pace and the mileage. Lotus got their car up and running a day ahead of schedule, whilst Daniil Kvyat had a tough day after breaking Red Bull’s only front wing. He continued to test, but without a significant amount of downforce. McLaren only completed six laps again, this time with Jenson Button. The day had rain at the end of the running, and some teams chose to test the intermediate tyres in the appropriate conditions.

1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF15-T, 1:20.984, 89 laps
2. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari C34, +0.883, 88
3. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes FW37, +1.335, 61
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W06, +1.506, 91
5. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso-Renault STR10, +3.183, 73
6. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes E23, +4.818, 41
7. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda MP4-30, +33.671, 6
8. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull-Renault RB11, N/A, 18

Jerez Winter Test Day 3

Nasr set the pace on a damp day three with the soft tyres, despite a spin early in the day. McLaren finally got their car to complete some moderate mileage, completing about half a race distance over the day. Both Mercedes and Lotus suffered technical glitches, but both teams did sizeable running, with Rosberg clocking in another 151 laps. The same cannot be said for Red Bull, who had to abandon the day’s testing after just 49 laps. Carlos Sainz also did a large amount of running, clocking in just 14 laps less than Rosberg did. Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen made their first appearances in their new cars.

1. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari C34, 1:21.545, 109 laps
2. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari SF15-T, +0.205, 94
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W06, +0.437, 151
4. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes FW37, +0.731, 71
5. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes E23, +1.168, 96
6. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso-Renault STR10, +1.642, 137
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault RB11, +2.356, 49
8. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda MP4-30, +14.008, 32

Jerez Winter Test Day 4

Kimi Räikkönen was the quickest on the soft tyres on a day marred by multiple red flags on the final day of testing. The Finn went quickest despite spinning off at the chicane. Lewis Hamilton did similar in his Mercedes. McLaren completed a solid amount of running again; completing 35 laps with Jenson Button, but that was still significantly less than anybody else. Romain Grosjean had his first turn in the E23, completing over fifty laps. Marcus Ericsson also completed over 100 laps in his Sauber, before coming to a halt due to a lack of fuel with just five minutes left of the day, meaning that the session finished under a red flag.

1. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari SF15-T, 1:20.841, 105 laps
2. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari C34, +1.178, 111
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W06, +1.331, 116
4. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso-Renault STR10, +1.712, 97
5. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes FW37, +2.275, 73
6. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes E23, +2.961, 53
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull-Renault RB11, +3.134, 63
8. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda MP4-30, +7.139, 35

Complete Jerez Winter Test Times

1. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari SF15-T, 1:20.841, 199 laps
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF15-T, 1:20.984, 149
3. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari C34, 1:21.545, 197
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W06, 1:21.982, 308
5. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari C34, 1:22.019, 184
6. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W06, 1:22.172, 207
7. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes FW37, 1:22.276, 144
8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes FW37, 1:22.319, 134
9. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso-Renault STR10, 1:22.553, 172
10. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes E23, 1:22.713, 137
11. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso-Renault STR10, 1:23.187, 183
12. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault RB11, 1:23.338, 84
13. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes E23, 1:23.802, 53
14. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull-Renault RB11, 1:23.975, 81
15. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda MP4-30, 1:27.980, 41
16. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda MP4-30, 1:35.553, 38
17. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes VJM08, not present
18. Nico Hülkenberg, Force India-Mercedes VJM08, not present