Inside Line: Let the real games begin!

Traditionally we have been told that testing does not mean much in terms of what will happen in the season, but I beg to differ because you tend to get a feel of what-is-what by the final days of testing.

Last year, before round one in Melbourne we knew that McLaren would be rubbish, Red Bull were in trouble, Mercedes were mega and Ferrari had something up their sleeve.

Now, a year later, the two four day tests in Spain will inevitably provide insight into who is where in terms of pecking order. Below is my list of what I will be looking out for during these crucial early days of the season:

The big questions around Mercedes are: How good is the W09? Did they blunder by repackaging their dominant engine? Testing will be telling: will those Mercs could blow up like fireworks on New Year's eve? Or are they yet again are reliable and rapid pieces of kit which will see Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas disappear into the distance.

As an engine supplier to Force India and Williams, Mercedes are now obliged (more than ever before) to ensure that they provide equal engines, including mapping software which may close the gap between the two works cars and the four customer cars.

Testing should reveal how much of a discrepancy (if any) there was between the different power maps used by Mercedes in the past, without sharing the information with their clients.

How good is the Ferrari SF71-H and how much have they managed to squeeze out of their power unit for this season. Last year they made massive gains and if they can match that again then it will be another mighty effort deserving of an ovation, while Mercedes will be worried. Will this come out in testing? Maybe...

Ferrari this year will supply current generation power units to Haas and Sauber (last year Sauber ran year old engines). Like Mercedes, the Italian engine supplier will have to level the playing field regarding their customer engines and gizmos. With similar engines on board, direct comparisons between the Haas VF18, the Sauber C37 and their four drivers will start in Barcelona this week.

Renault are optimistic that they have made gains this season with their engine and have worked hard to rectify the woeful reliability the engines suffered last year. How much these gains are relative to the real world of Mercedes and Ferrari, as opposed to computer-generated figures, will become known within a few days of testing. Now with two heavy hitters on their client list - Red Bull and McLaren - this is going to be a battle worth watching from the minute the new cars roll out of the pit lane on Monday.

As for their works team, they really need to be punching up with the big three and not on the wrong end of the midfield. They have the drivers to extract the maximum in Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz, now it will be interesting to see if they have they produced a decent car in the Renault RS18.

Red Bull have made a great amount of noise about how they shifted philosophy of the past - make that Adrian Newey's philosophy - of completing the construction of their car as late as possible, to this year having the RB14 ready well in time. Will this make a huge difference? We should get a whiff of how good the car is and in the end only how strong they are early in the season will provide the final answer to that.

Probably the most anticipated news out of Circuit de Catalunya during the eight days of testing will be the progress of McLaren now powered by Renault and with it opening a Pandora's box of questions: How does the MCL33 compare to the RB14? Gauging Fernando Alonso during testing will be a sideshow of note in itself.

While keeping one eye on McLaren and their new Renault adventure, the other eye will be fixated with the back of the Toro Rosso STR13 upon which is bolted the Honda power unit that the Woking outfit ditched. There is needle there and reports from Honda is that they are intent on proving the Woking boys wrong. It will emerge where Honda is early on in testing as well as how good the chassis is too.

Much has been written of Force India remarkable 'low budget' achievement last year, now it is time to see if their 2017 season was a flash in the pan or if the team will continue to have the momentum from their stellar season. It will be a tough ask because the midfield just got a lot stronger with the Renault powered McLarens and Saubers with current edition engines sure to be in the mix. Barcelona should provide some indication of where the boys in pink stand in the pre-Australia pecking order.

The Williams FW41 is the first car to have input from the team's technical chief Paddy Lowe and head of aero Dirk de Beer. Last year's car was below par and did their drivers no favours. Testing should reveal where they stand relative to where they were last season. It will also be worth keeping tabs on Sergey Sirotkin's progress relative to his teenage teammate Lance Stroll.

The off-season this year has been one of the quietest in a long time and honestly Formula 1 fans appear to be in extended hibernation which the recent launches appear to have stirred as readers are returning again.

January and February hopefully are 'the quiet before the storm' and now as the 2018 engines fire-up in anger once again and new cars get out on track we have all the above to look forward to... and of course always expect the unexpected.

Writing this I can almost smell the Formula 1 paddock, the rubber, the fuel and if I listen carefully I can hear the hum of non-stop paddock chatter, the unmistakable whir of air-guns, clinking of mechanics' tools...

Let the real games begin!