By Ben Kelbrick
The third and final pre-season test at circuit de catalunya has now drawn to a close and all eyes are turned to FP1 at Melbourne on March 15. With relatively minimal rule changes, the cars have been described as 'evolutions' to their predecessors so, RedBull once again are favourites for the title.
Although legalities remain similar to last year, the driver line-up has had several changes. We bid farewell to seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, the most decorated driver in F1 is joined in retirement by the man who has entered the most races, 40-year old former Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello.
21 year-old Brit, Max Chilton makes the step up from GP2 to Marussia Racing. He is joined by Jules Bianchhi who impressed at last seasons young drivers' test. Although, he becomes the third proposed driver to partner Chilton this year following a chaotic closed season for the Oxford-based team.
Former Sauber man Sergio Perez joins Jenson Button at Mclaren. The Mexican will be looking to re-kindle the early form of last year that caught the eye of the Woking-based team.
Sauber will start the 2013 campaign with an all new line up with lead driver Nico Hulkenberg being joined by rookie Esteban Gutierrez.
Elsewhere, Adrian Sutil returns to Force India following a one-year absence and Valtteri Bottas fills the vacant slot at Williams.
Arguably the most anticipated move was Lewis Hamilton, leaving Mclaren after working with the team for six years. Ross Brawn will be looking to further improve on last years disappointing season and fans will relish the chance to see how well Lewis can perform in, I daresay a likely weaker car than the Mclaren.
Following the three tests the usual suspects have impressed although, it has been difficult to gauge any real performance between them.
Sebastian Vettel described this years testing as 'less conclusive than ever,' so surely, we should expect another exciting year.
The German triple World Champion is said to be disappointed with the final few days of testing though, blaming the influence of the tyres for the lack of data received from his new RB9 challenger.
"We just have to look after ourselves, we didn't tick all the boxesthat we would have liked to and the last two days were not as good as we would have expected," said Vettel.
"But there's still a little bit of time left before the season starts."
Vettel was unable to answer the specific areas that Red Bull needed to improve, "It's extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact areas because the tyres were not consistent enough."
"If you sum up the whole three tests, we were all limited to what the tyres could do."
"It was extremely difficult to read some set-up changes and find a good direction with the car because the tyres were simply not good enough."
His Closest competitor last year, Ferraris' Fernando Alonso seemed optimistic about his chances this season following his initial reaction to the F138
"Last year we had a very difficult winter, we were completely lost, we didn't know what the car was doing. And with that car we fought for the title until the last race in Brazil."
"We now have a car that is responding well to what we change, and that is doing what we expect."
"We know we are maybe not the quickest yet, but the potential of the car is there."
Lewis Hamilton has remained coy on his hoped for the year and was initially adamant that he wouldn't challenge for the title, despite impressing in early pre-season testing.
Although, the blistering pace shown by both Hamilton and team-mate Rosberg at the final test in Barcelona has led to many people feeling they are more competitive than they claim.
When asked if he tought he could challenge for the title Hamilton replied, “It’s not ‘no chance’ and not definitely ‘we will’.”
"There is everything to play for still. We won’t know until the first race but don’t be surprised if we get to the first race and we are not at the front. We are going in the right direction, though.”
Mclaren have experienced an up and down pre-season with undoubtedly quick single lap pace but reliability has hindered them.
"In terms of laps completed and the testing I have achieved, I think we're behind on that," added Button. "It's not been perfect and we know we've got a lot of work to do in terms of spending more time out on the circuit and understanding the car.
Speaking ahead of the final test Button said:
"So I am really looking forward to a good test next week in Barcelona as I don't feel that we have been able to do enough to really understand the car and where we are with the car. We've got to sort out our own issues and get the best out of the car that we have."
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