Mercedes technical director James Allison has shared his impressions from the recent Formula 1 pre-season tests in Barcelona, highlighting reliability across the grid as the biggest surprise, Idman.Biz reports.
Speaking to Motorsport, Allison admitted that both Mercedes and their rivals were struck by how smoothly the tests unfolded. With a significant number of technical changes introduced ahead of the new season, many had expected early running to be disrupted by mechanical problems and red flags.
“I think for us, and probably for our competitors as well, the biggest surprise was the level of reliability we saw across the entire field,” said Allison. “Given the scale of the changes, it would have been logical to expect the first test to turn into a symphony of red flags and smoking cars, but that simply didn’t happen.”
According to the Mercedes technical director, reliability figures were largely comparable to last year’s pre-season tests and, in some cases, even better. Allison noted that this was particularly striking considering that last season’s machinery had already been thoroughly tested and refined, whereas teams are now working with updated concepts and new solutions.
The strong reliability shown in Barcelona is seen as an encouraging sign ahead of the opening race, allowing teams to focus more on performance development rather than basic troubleshooting as the new Formula 1 campaign approaches.
