KartCMP1: "Uh oh"s and "Way to go"s from testing

On what was supposed to be the day of the 2021 Australian Grand Prix, the lights went green in Bahrain as the teams hit the track for the first time since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in which Red Bull's Max Verstappen stormed to a convincing victory ahead of both Mercedes challengers.

The changes to the cars have been well-documented with the most pronounced alterations being the slightly heavier new-spec Pirelli tyres and the new floor rules, which were brought in with the intention to slow the cars down by approximately half a second per lap. Straight out of the gate some looked good and others not so much, so let's dive in.

The shorter than usual test of three days produced a lot more excitement as stories developed much faster than usual. It was also all done without a single steward decision.

The quality of the cars is outstanding. Every team, with the exception of Haas, has every department absolutely banging; producing incredibly competitive race cars in what should be the most competitive hybrid era season to date. The organisation level required to simply run a midfield outfit in F1 today is greater than its ever been. It's a statement in itself that Haas has elected to forego any further development of their current car, instead channelling all of their resources to focus on their 2022 car.

Nearly every front wing in testing was fundamentally different on each car and re-worked body work was seen across the board. The effort being made to close out the current 2017 to 2021ish spec formula is proving extreme on all accounts.

All we hear is Lewis Hamilton ga ga, Mercedes goo goo, Toto Wolff ga ga. The headline that dominated testing from day one was of course, Mercedes' perceived struggles. Enjoy it while you can, we might have already seen the last of it in 2021. Wolff and Hamilton go to great lengths to have their rivals believe that Mercedes is struggling, as by their own admission they've struggled to maintain a competitive edge throughout the hybrid era. This time it looked genuine. Valtteri Bottas looked more comfortable in the W12 overall, but was still quick to detail the struggle of driving the car. Despite this, Bottas put together a clean testing programme leading the way on Saturday.

It didn't feel great from the start, gear box failure on the first lap of testing, a visually unbalanced car with multiple spins from Hamilton and for reasons Mercedes deemed "normal procedure, Hamilton was more than an hour late starting the afternoon session on day three. Mercedes also completed the least laps of any team, while having completed the most during last year's winter test.

The absolute worst of it was Hamilton on new soft C5 tyres spinning on the final corner to begin a qualifying simulation lap during the best available track conditions of the three day test. Shortly after Hamilton was given another new set of the soft C5 tyres but ran wide in Turn 4 ruining that attempt as well.

Hamilton did earn a "Way to go" during the Friday afternoon sandstorm. A knock on effect of the Mercedes absent connection to the circuit surface was watching Hamilton lay some serious rubber down combined with brutally deliberate and forceful direction change demands from his car; it was spectacular to watch.

Calm and controlled. Max Verstappen did get caught out once with a half spin but it was really down to track conditions, and an engine cover exploded down the front straight in spectacular fashion, minimal issues to report in all.

Christian Horner gets a "Way to go" for stating that Red Bull are under no illusions that Mercedes are the firm favourites - well ahead of Mercedes' usual self-defeating testing attitude.

Historically Red Bull don't get out of the gate as quickly, while Mercedes do, but this year they appear better prepared. It was a flawless testing programme. Verstappen looked fast, Sergio Perez looked comfortable and while it doesn't exactly translate into certain success, it's a good first run from the RB16B.

Verstappen in a winning calibre car with the Dutch Grand Prix on the schedule this year, followed by the Mexico Grand Prix for Perez, it's goosebumps territory.

It's just not good enough from the iconic Scuderia.

Charles Leclerc ran trouble free, with the exception of a mechanical issue at the end of the day one morning session where he stopped on the track. Otherwise, Leclerc appeared his usual self while in complete command of Ferrari's latest challenger.

The problem was Carlos Sainz appeared to fail to come to terms with the SF21's snappy rear end. Let's be absolutely clear, Sainz is far too talented of a driver to simply be struggling with unfamiliarity of the car. It was also reported by Jolyon Palmer that Sainz reverted to an understeery setup to help cope with the rear end. Bad news all around.

There is no evidence to suggest the car is any better or worse than last year, it looked identical on pace and behaviour.

Binotto has suggested this year's Ferrari power-unit is more potent than last year's. It was also confirmed by Kimi Raikkonen, who on multiple occasions throughout the test expressed that the engine was better. Raikkonen is the right guy to ask as he's driven every single Ferrari power-unit that the team have produced in the turbo-hybrid era. The exact scope of what's different with the Ferrari however, is still somewhat unclear in terms of concrete details.

Completed the most laps of all teams. The smallest delta, only +0.605 from their fastest qualifying lap from 2020.

Pierre Gasly - Sensational!

Yuki Tsunoda - Spectacular!

10 out of 10!

There was an early radio transmission from Esteban Ocon stating the rear of the car was snappy. "Snappy" quickly became the word that defined testing as drivers came to terms with the reality that every car was a little bit snappy.

Regardless, it appeared to be a successful test for Alpine F1 with Ocon completing programs and Fernando Alonso delivering an impressive 128 laps on day two, squashing any doubts over his fitness.

A lot of discussion of the large airbox on the Alpine was quickly dismissed when it was pointed out that it was an evolution of design philosophy from previous years as last year's car does also have a large airbox. The new blue colour simply accentuates its size.

"A way to go" to the Reddit user 10gistic who spliced audio of Karun Chandhok and Martin Brundle's discussion about the size of Alpine's airbox bulge over a video of Hamilton 'adjusting' himself prior to sitting in his car.

Of all the testing programmes that could have gone wrong it should have been McLaren's due to the amount of changes that car has had over the off-season. There were supposed to be leaks, electrical issues, broken exhaust mounts. It should have stopped out in circuit multiple times and it would of all been deemed normal. They were supposed to have the testing programme that Aston Martin had.

Instead, McLaren produced what appeared to be an effortless test programme. The car ran well and it looked fast, planted and gorgeous.

The fact that McLaren has upgraded after Sainz departed is further proof of the talent they have in their management team. When James Key signed with McLaren he had to be excited to get the keys to the McLaren Technology Centre to show what he could do with the proper tools and resources at his disposal, and have a chance to get out of Adrian Newey's limelight. The results have been nothing short of stunning.

Zak Brown's five-year plan appears to have taken another leap in the right direction.

On Thursday it was reported that team principal Frederic Vasseur had tested positive for COVID-19 and would not travel to Bahrain. The C41 ran without issue and rather quickly as well - only +0.744 down on their fastest qualifying lap to date during the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix and only +0.469 down on their best in 2020.

Greg Stuart revealed during the test that in speaking with Alfa Romeo, both Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi had been extremely satisfied with the stable, reliable platform the new C41 gave them.

Alfa Romeo completed the second most laps only one behind AlphaTauri.

Only +0.823 to their 2021 qualifying time, the FW43B already looks sharp.

Since nobody said it, Roy Nissany, "Way to go". Williams were the only team to employ the use of their test driver, and Nissany quietly completed his programme without any notable issue.

Alternatively, Nicholas Latifi took over driving duties on day two and on more than one occasion got a decent look at the circuit in reverse. There's no need to be over critical when no damage is caused from a spin in testing, it just didn't look good when his teammates were flawless.

George Russell met expectations, and benefitted greatly by getting the car on day three in which the track conditions were the most optimal.

Aston Martin's weakest attribute so far is reliability. It's unfair to award them that attribute in general, but the test was not favourable.

On day one Sebastian Vettel stopped at the end of pit lane, the team retrieved him and put the car in the garage for inspection. At one time team personnel lined the entrance of the garage to stop a gaggle of photographers from getting photos of the AMR21.

Lance Stroll and Vettel completed their programmes with little error, but unfortunately a gear box and boost pressure issue in the same session for Vettel limited his running on day two.

Aston Martin spent their two tokens on a new monocoque, moving slightly away from the Mercedes design philosophy and the car looked good on track. The team will need to move quickly to eliminate their gremlins before running again in Bahrain though.

And Ferrari "Uh oh", Binotto "Uh oh", Liberty Media "Uh oh" and any person or body responsible for Mick Schumacher not being in the Alfa Romeo - Big "Uh oh".

Before we get to Haas it has to be said; Mick Schumacher in the Haas is a move so bad it defies logic. This would have never happened under Bernie Ecclestone's control.

While 2018 was a particularly good year for Haas with solid finishes, only three years on and Williams looks like it will leap ahead of them in 2021. Haas have conceded any attempt to pursue big upgrades to their current car and instead will completely focus on next year - which is not exactly a poor decision given where they are. Due to the sliding scale of aerodynamic testing, Haas actually benefit from a greater testing allowance by finishing last in this year's championship. It's a bold move that will more than pay for itself if they succeed in building a winning car for 2022.

The test itself was predictable, and their drivers had their rookie moments as Nikita Mazepin spun on day one and nearly ran into the back of Hamilton and Giovinazzi on day two. Schumacher ran over a jack in the pits.