Autosport Plus

Why day one of the second test was unusually cagey

The second week of F1 testing is typically when clear narratives begin to emerge, but many question marks still remain this year as teams are content playing their cards close to their chests. It will be the final two days before we see a fuller picture emerge

Alex Kalinauckas Feb 26, 2020, 2:36 PM

When Carlos Sainz Jr took his McLaren out of the Barcelona pitlane on Wednesday morning, he led Formula 1's 2020 pre-season into its second half. But the opening day of the second test in Spain stood out - purely because little really stood out.

In 2015, McLaren's start to life back with Honda was going from bad to worse as the second test of that year got underway. A year later at the same point, Ferrari had headline pace but an underlying chasm to Mercedes was becoming apparent.

Share Or Save This Story

Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.