Formula One is back in action for another year with the start of pre-season testing. The first of 2013’s tests was at Spain’s Jerez Circuit which doesn’t host a race on the Grand Prix calendar so the teams and drivers weren’t putting much stock in the results. In fact, Fernando Alonso couldn’t even be bothered to show up to this test. That didn’t mean that Ferrari wasn’t fast last week, though.

Day 1 (February 5)

It might not have been a clean day of running but McLaren started testing the best way possible by putting Jenson Button on top. The Brit only completed 37 laps after missing most of the early part of the day with a fuel pump failure. I guess pre-season testing is in place to work out kinks like that before a proper race.

Just to show that some things haven’t really changed, the top three were rounded out by Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean. I get the distinct feeling that those three cars, along with Ferrari, will be on the podium fairly often this season.

1. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:18.861
2. Mark Webber – Red Bull-Renault – 1:19.709
3. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – 1:19.796
4. Paul di Resta – Force India-Mercedes – 1:20.343
5. Daniel Ricciardo – Toro Rosso-Ferrari- 1:20.401
6. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 1:20.536
7. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:20.699
8. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:20.846
9. Pastor Maldonado – Williams-Renault – 1:20.864
10. Giedo van der Garde – Caterham-Renault – 1:21.915
11. Max Chilton – Marussia-Cosworth – 1:24.176

Day 2 (February 6)

He led the time sheets for most of Day One only to lose out in the final half-hour. On Day Two, there was no denying Romain Grosjean top of the pops. He outpaced all other drivers by almost eight-tenths of a second and even outpaced Button’s first day time by six-tenths.

The big story of the day was Lewis Hamilton’s first run with Mercedes. It wasn’t much of a run, though. He nosed his car into the barrier at Dry Sack after 15 laps due to a hydraulic failure in the right-rear brake line. That’s the second day with a problem as Rosberg’s running on Day One was cut short by a fire caused by a wiring fault.

1. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – 1:18.218
2. Paul di Resta – Force India-Mercedes – 1:19.003
3. Daniel Ricciardo – Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:19.134
4. Mark Webber – Red Bull-Renault – 1:19.338
5. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:19.502
6. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:19.519
7. Sergio Perez – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:19.572
8. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 1:19.914
9. Pastor Maldonado – Williams-Renault – 1:20.693
10. James Rossiter – Force India-Mercedes – 1:21.273
11. Giedo van der Garde – Caterham-Renault – 1:21.311
12. Luiz Razia – Marussia-Cosworth – 1:23.537

Day 3 (February 7)

It took a couple of days but Ferrari was finally able to get the F138 dialled in on Day Three and were able to set the best time for the test. Massa completed his third day of testing with the fastest recorded time.

Nico Rosberg’s second place might seem like a bit of a surprise but it’s nowhere nearly as interesting as the fact that he completed 148 laps on the day. That’s five times as many laps completed on Thursday as the team had completed in total over the first two days of the session. That’s making up for lost time.

1. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 1:17.879
2. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:18.766
3. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – 1:19.052
4. Kimi Raikkonen – Lotus-Renault – 1:19.200
5. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:19.247
6. James Rossiter – Force India-Mercedes – 1:19.303
7. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:19.603
8. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:19.934
9. Max Chilton – Marussia-Cosworth – 1:21.269
10. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Renault – 1:21.575
11. Charles Pic – Caterham-Renault – 1:22.352
12. Paul di Resta – Force India-Mercedes – 1:23.729

Day 4 (February 8)

The final day of test was also the first one in which a team repeated atop the time charts. Kimi Raikkonen made Lotus the first team to win multiple test sessions during this off-season. If you look at last year’s testing results, Lotus pulled the same trick if you omit year-old cars from testing results.

Once again, Force India was surprisingly fast with Bianchi timing in second. That marked the second time that a Force India car finished 2nd with Di Resta finishing in the same position on Day Two. Sebastian Vettel also recorded the third-fastest time for the second-straight day.

1. Kimi Raikkonen – Lotus-Renault – 1:18.148
2. Jules Bianchi – Force India-Mercedes – 1:18.175
3. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – 1:18.565
4. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:18.669
5. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:18.760
6. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:18.905
7. Sergio Perez – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:18.944
8. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Renault – 1:19.851
9. Pedro de la Rosa – Ferrari – 1:20.316
10. Charles Pic – Caterham-Renault – 1:21.105
11. Luiz Razia – Marussia-Cosworth – 1:21.226
12. Paul di Resta – Force India-Mercedes – 1:23.435

You’ll likely have noticed that there was a lack of analysis of the results from Jerez. Well that’s because it’s two early to draw any conclusions. The early results say that Vettel should watch out for challenges from Ferrari and Lotus this year but we could have told you that without testing. We haven’t learned anything yet. With the two subsequent tests, some patterns will emerge and we’ll find out who will start 2013 strong.

Best Times of the Test

1. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – 1:17.879
2. Kimi Raikkonen – Lotus-Renault – 1:18.148
3. Jules Bianchi – Force India-Mercedes – 1:18.175
4. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – 1:18.218
5. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – 1:18.565
6. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:18.669
7. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:18.760
8. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:18.766
9. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:18.861
10. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:18.905
11. Sergio Perez – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:18.944
12. Paul di Resta – Force India-Mercedes – 1:19.003
13. Daniel Ricciardo – Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 1:19.134
14. James Rossiter – Force India-Mercedes – 1:19.303
15. Mark Webber – Red Bull-Renault – 1:19.338
16. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:19.502
17. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Renault – 1:19.851
18. Pedro de la Rosa – Ferrari – 1:20.316
19. Pastor Maldonado – Williams-Renault – 1:20.693
20. Charles Pic – Caterham-Renault – 1:21.105
21. Luiz Razia – Marussia-Cosworth – 1:21.226
22. Max Chilton – Marussia-Cosworth – 1:21.269
23. Giedo van der Garde – Caterham-Renault – 1:21.311