F1 2022 testing - 3 unanswered questions from Barcelona

The first F1 pre-season testing concluded in Barcelona on Friday. The cars looked great on the track, and it appears that the new regulations have seemingly resulted in good-looking machineries.

After three days of running, there were a few things that became apparent. A few key questions got answered, but there are still some that went unanswered. On that note, here's a look at three of the unanswered questions from the test:

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#1 What's the F1 pecking order?

One of the biggest questions during any pre-season testing is the pecking order that tends to emerge after a few days of running.

However, this time around, that was not the case. With teams busy trying to understand the new generation of cars, none of them attempted a definitive long run that could be termed as a race simulation.

The only conclusion that could be drawn for now is that Mercedes and Red Bull haven't shown their hand, Ferrari and McLaren look strong; Alpine and Alfa Romeo didn't have a good test, while it's difficult to make a pick for the rest of the grid.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton might just have made a few pessimistic remarks about the Mercedes. However, on track, the car looks as good as some of the other contenders.

For now, it's difficult to fit the pieces of the puzzle in a somewhat conclusive manner. We will need to wait for the Bahrain test to get a better idea.

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#2 Will the racing get better this season?

There have been mixed reviews around the new generation of cars and their ability to improve racing compared to previous seasons.

On the first day of testing, Carlos Sainz was quick to point out that he instantly felt a difference in how closely he was able to follow the other cars. On the last day, Russell and Norris pointed out that it was relatively easier to follow other cars. However, the impact of slipstreaming reduced significantly, which could be a deterrent while overtaking.

It remains to be seen which of these effects play a bigger role when the racing commences. Nothing can be definitively said before that.

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#3 The curious case of Alpine F1

Fernando Alonso's 2022 F1 challenger has confused one and all. The car was run on a very heavy fuel load, and DRS was kept disabled for the first two days. It then suffered from a leakage issue, and eventually Alpine had to call off the running on the third day altogether.

Even while the car was running on the track, it didn't look as balanced as the others. Yet, the team came out and stressed that it had not focussed on performance runs yet and the focus was entirely on understanding the car. That makes it difficult to decipher where Alpine falls in the pecking order.