F1 pre-season testing - five things to expect

3. A title battle or a runaway winner?

Nothing can ever be judged by the results of pre-season testing, but the timesheets aside, the success or failure of testing can often be gauged by the atmosphere within the garage itself.

Mercedes, for example, has no need to set headline-grabbing times at the close of each day. It is often the case that those setting such times are actually not in great shape or are using the display of speed to entice a sponsor or two to join its cause.

Testing is all about reading between the lines so pay close attention to the Red Bull garage as this is where the first indicators of a potential title race will be seen - unless another team has played a blinder over the winter!

2. A constantly busy track

Testing time has been halved for this year. Last year pre-season testing took place over two three-day tests in Barcelona. This year there is only one three-day programme.

For rookie drivers Mazepin, Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda this is hardly ideal, nor for those that changed teams over the winter in Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, or even the returning Fernando Alonso.

With time at a premium, it is likely the track will be busy from the moment the light goes green at the end of the Bahrain pit-lane to when it flashes red at the end of each day.

1. Talk of 2022

The 2021 season has not yet started but already so much of the talk in the build-up so far has centred around the aerodynamic changes that will come into force next year.

The simple reason for this is because this set of regulation changes makes the switch in philosophy between 2016 and '17 look small in comparison.

Previously banned ground-effect technology can again be used, which is good as it allows cars to generate extremely high levels of downforce without dirtying the air too much. This, in theory, will allow for closer and more exciting racing.

Haas has stated outright it will not develop this year's car throughout the year and will instead focus its efforts on the new era of F1, while other teams have indicated that development will end considerably earlier this year than in previous years.

The word of the year is almost certain to be "transition", with many teams already describing the coming season as such.

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