5 Things we learned from F1 Testing Week 2

#3 The Field Looks Closer

Red Bull didn't do a flying lap on Friday, but every other team did.

With the exception of Williams, who look to be a further second behind the ninith fastest team, the field looks to be exceptionally close. There was just 1.5 seconds between Vettel's Ferrari and Sergio Perez's Racing Point on Friday, a gap that separated 3rd placed Red Bull and 4th placed Renault in 2018.

Of course, testing times are notoriously misleading, as slow teams often run their cars on fumes to make them appear fastest than what they actually are, in order to impress sponsors. Conversely, quick teams usually send their cars out with excess fuel or on slower engine modes, in order to not reveal their true pace to their rivals. However, on paper, this is an undeniably close battle, possibly down to engine performance being normalised over time and the simplification of the front wing, when compared to last year.

We'll need to wait a few weeks to see for sure, but I've got a good feeling about this.