Mercedes break away from the pack on day three

On Friday, Mercedes hinted at a little of the W11’s performance by knocking half a second off their best time from pre-season testing last year.

[f1tv2002testa]The 1.3-second gap between them and Alfa Romeo is the same margin which covers the other nine cars. But it’s not likely to be representative of their true performance advantage – rather, expect teams to find similar gains next week.

It may simply be the case that Mercedes, by dint of covering the most mileage of any team, is further down the road with its development programme. Mammoth mileages have been their testing trademark for years.

Renault managed a better day in terms of mileage on Friday, but Haas’s absence from almost all of their afternoon running means they have now completed the fewest laps of any team. A power unit problem on the same day for Ferrari saw last year’s lap count leaders fall to eighth place.

2020 pre-season lap times so far by team

2020 pre-season lap times compared to last year

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2020 pre-season mileages compared to last year

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2020 F1 season

• Pictures: Wrecked chassis from Grosjean’s Bahrain fireball crash to go on display
• Bottas vs Rosberg: Hamilton’s Mercedes team mates compared after 78 races each
• F1 revenues fell by $877 million in Covid-struck 2020 season
• Hamilton and Mercedes finally announce new deal for 2021 season
• F1 audience figures “strong” in 2020 despite dip in television viewers