The Circuit de Catalunya is widely regarded as Formula 1’s benchmark track.
Do well here, the thinking goes, and you are likely to be competitive at many other circuits. Last year’s lap times broadly support that notion, although teams progress at different rates during a season.
Alpine will be hoping the benchmark theory holds. Last year, racing as Renault, they were seventh-fastest at this track, slightly below their season average. Today they were the fourth-quickest team, and Esteban Ocon believes they may have been third-quickest.
After a disappointing start to the season in Bahrain and Imola but a stronger showing at Algarve, Alpine’s executive director Marcin Budkowski welcomed the result.
“Barcelona is a benchmark in Formula 1 for understanding where your car is, and it wasn’t one of our favourite circuits in recent years,” he said. “We were particularly poor here last year. So there’s a mix of happiness and relief: the gains we’re seeing are real and we are making the progress we expected.”
If Barcelona truly is F1’s benchmark, the result offers encouragement for a close title fight. For the second year running Red Bull were Mercedes’ nearest threat, but they have cut their deficit here to almost nothing. Lewis Hamilton edged Max Verstappen to pole by just three hundredths of a second.
“Our first front-row start in Barcelona for 10 years and Max was once again so close to pole,” reflected Red Bull CEO Christian Horner. “Being on the front row is very encouraging and there are a lot of positives to take from today. Last year we were 0.7s off pole and this year Max has completed an almost identical lap time to Lewis, so it’s great progress.”
Not everyone believes qualifying tells the whole story for the season. Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff questioned whether Barcelona is representative of the year ahead.
“You can say there’s a straight, there are chicanes, there are fast corners and slow corners… it’s pretty much everywhere,” he said. “So I don’t think this is the representative track for the season.”
Even if Barcelona alone doesn’t reveal the full picture, after four races broader patterns are emerging. Those figures are encouraging for fans hoping for a season-long title fight.
Across the early rounds, Mercedes have averaged just 0.1% off the fastest pace, while Red Bull are only fractionally behind at 0.19%. A two-team title battle looks more likely than at any earlier point in the V6 hybrid turbo era.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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