Testing times

We've had two four day tests and at the time of writing all the cars had just pulled into the garage for lunch at the circuit de Catalunya, just outside of Barcelona, leaving just a day and a half to go for the teams to get it right. Two weeks tomorrow the opening round in Australia would have been and gone, we'd know who our first winner was and have our first answers as to who will be king in 2015.

Testing goes a long way to ironing out the little problems that can be so catastrophic during a race. Getting the miles on the car, understanding it, lap by lap knowing what it will do and then extracting that performance and more. Below are some photos taken from autosport.com from the first test at Jerez and the last and current test outside of Barcelona.

There's been some cold mornings, but you'd expect that for winter testing!

Mercedes leapt out of the pits early in Jerez and despite a few hiccups along the way have continued logging the miles while hovering near the top of the times despite running slower tyres.

Lotus look in better shape this year after switching to Mercedes power.

Ferrari made a spectacular start to testing in Jerez, but have since been a bit more circumspect. They've certainly made progress over the winter though.

Sauber have been relaxing at the top of the times a lot, which goes to show never trust testing times. However, they look like they'll be a bit more competitive after last years nil points campaign. A further good sign for the progress Ferrari have made with their power unit.

It's been a troubling start for the reunion of McLaren Honda. They've not got many laps on the board, and there have been many problems.

Consequently returnee Fernando Alonso has been hanging around the garage a lot. After his accident last week, he's had to skip the final test and there are even doubts he could make it to Australia. A lot of mystery seems to surround what happened.

However, progress was made yesterday at McLaren. Jenson Button managed 100 laps yesterday. I think McLaren could be dark horses for a few wins this year, their chassis is looking a lot better while the Honda has plenty of untapped potential.

Red Bull may well have slipped down the order a bit. Adrian Newey has taken a step back from design duties, although still a great influence but they haven't set the world alight over the winter. I think Ricciardo should have the measure of Kvyat too. Never rule this team out. Renault's power unit still seems out of sorts too.

The Toro Rosso is apparently a bit skittish, but Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jnr have logged plenty of miles as they aim to get up to speed. Their combined age is just 37, but both, Verstappen in particular look at ease in the car. Expect some action from these guys.

Williams have kept themselves to themselves, but again have managed plenty of miles and not really gone for out and out pace during testing.

Mercedes have just kept on sorting everything out but Nico Rosberg served a statement of intent when they finally stuck on some soft compound tyres and blitzed everyone with a time 1.5 seconds quicker than anyone else that day.

Force India missed the first test, only had their 2014 car for the second test and then only brought out their 2015 cars at the second day of this final test. Still it seemed reliable out of the box, they just need to get as much mileage as they can.

Grosjean has been pushing the Lotus, he deserves to have a decent car to allow him to attack for podiums once again, although I think he may have to settle for points.

Kimi Raikkonen had actual enthusiasm for his new Ferrari. After a terrible year last year, this car seems far more suited to his style of driving. Watch out for a return to form from Kimi.

If anyone is going to be the Mercedes main rival this year, it looks like Williams have kept up the momentum from a great 2014 to push even harder in 2015. They've shown their hand a little over the first couple of days of the final test, I think they may grab a win this year. Whether it's Bottas or Massa is too close to call.

Don't rule out Vettel getting a win in his debut season for Ferrari. He topped the times on the opening two days in Jerez, the car seems a lot more suited to him than last years Red Bull. He also seems to have acquired renewed motivation, Ferrari look to have turned a corner.

Great news that Manor (formerly Marussia) look like they should be back on the grid for Australia. They're looking to race a modified 2014 car with a 2015 machine on the way. Good luck to them.

Meanwhile the rest have two more days to get some laps in, get reliability and most importantly the speed.

At Mercedes though, it looks effortless. It's going to take a lot to beat the Silver Arrows in 2015. 

all photo's taken from autosport.com