Barcelona Formula 1 Test Week 1 Wrap: Wass ist DAS?

In German, 'wass ist das' quite literally means: what is that? Makes us wonder if Mercedes deliberately called its new suspension invention DAS - for Dual Axis Steering - the trick bit of kit on the W11 that has everyone guessing. 

Whatever its roots, DAS certainly had the Formula 1 world asking wass ist, midway through the first winter test session of the 2020 F1 year that would ultimately see the world champion team in a customary 1-2 come Friday evening at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Wednesday - Status Quo

The week commenced inauspiciously enough with Valtteri Bottas topping the opening Wednesday morning session before Lewis Hamilton took the Mercedes over in the afternoon to go fastest for the day in a Mercedes 1-2 with the six-time consecutive champion team firing an early warning shot that all was still very well. Champion Hamilton reeled off 94 laps, while Bottas managed 79.

Ferrari’s week started with Sebastian Vettel sick in his hotel, leaving Charles Leclerc to pick up the baton as he racked up 131 laps to end up 1.3 seconds off the pace to end up some way down the pecking order as the team concentrated on trying to understand its new SF1000. Max Verstappen likewise came to grips with Red Bull’s new RB16 as he reeled off 168 laps with a few spins along the way.  

Closer to the front, Sergio Perez, ended up four-tenths off the pace in the ‘Pink Mercedes’ as Racing Point’s surprisingly replica new car has become known with 79 laps on top of the 50 Lance Stroll turned in, while The sweet-looking Alpha Tauri also showed handy pace with Daniil Kvyat ending fifth fastest after 151 laps at the wheel.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz managed 161 laps to go quickest of the Renault propelled machinery in sixth, 0.8 seconds off the pace and just three-hundredths of a clear of Daniel Ricciardo in the brand new works Renault after teammate Esteban Ocon returned from the F1 wilderness to break the RS20 in with 62 laps en route to eighth in the morning  Williams put last year’s nightmare behind to get George Russell out first of all cars in the morning before he and new recruit Latifi turned in a total of 199 laps on the day.  

The four Ferrari-powered cars propped up the bottom of the Wednesday timesheets with Leclerc 12th, a tenth up on Alfa Romeo tester Robert Kubica  and race driver Antonio Giovinazzi, who took over the car in the afternoon to end up slowest behind Kevin Magnussen in the Haas VF20.

Wednesday was perhaps most remarkable for it being a rare seamless run through the day without a single red flag stoppage to suggest exceptional Formula 1 reliability across the board in this final year of the current turbo-hybrid era.

Thursday - Wass is DAS?

If Wednesday was orderly and efficient, Thursday proved sensational when F1’s brand new live test television revealed an intriguing phenomenon on the Mercedes. It seemed the steering was pushing the driver’s hands back and forth, but on closer observation it became clear that the converse was indeed true and when that happened, it soon became obvious that the drivers were altering the Merc’s front wheel geometry by shoving the steering wheel forward and resetting it by pulling it aft.

It transpired Mercedes even has a name for the device — Dual Axis Steering controversially alters the toe angle and likely other aspects of the car on the move to allegedly deliver the best of both worlds with less straight-line drag and at the pull of the wheel under braking, a more aggressive steering and vice-versa.  

The device sent shock waves though F1, but is DAS the next ground effect or double diffuser big F1 thing, or is it just a smokescreen to hide something even more sinister? Time will tell!

Away from the smoke and mirrors, Kimi Raikkonen was perhaps the surprise fastest man of the day in the new Alfa Romeo C39, but after 134 laps on his first day in the new car, Kimi was also was the first man to finally bring out the first red flags of the week with literally minutes to run at the end of day 2. F1 reliability is looking better than ever right now.

Sergio Perez was again on the pace in the ‘Pink Mercedes’ Racing Point, topping the timesheets until late in the day before ending up second after running 145 laps. Daniel Ricciardo ended third in the quick but seemingly brittle Renault after 41 laps before Esteban Ocon took over for 52 laps on his way to 12th in the afternoon, while Alex Albon ended fourth after 134laps in the Red Bull, a couple of tenths ahead of Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri.

Far from the limelight,Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel shared the Ferrari SF1000, racking off 152 laps as the team continued to 'learn how its SF1000 works', while George Russell was loving the new Williams to split the Ferraris on the day’s time sheets in seventh. Mercedes was however clearly on another tack as the team fiddled with its DAS, Hamilton ended ninth and Bottas closed off the bottom of the time sheet in 13th with the W11 completing an impressive 183 laps on the day.

Friday - Markers Laid?

Mercedes ended the week a high in what on first sight appears to be a stern warning to its rivals as Valtteri Bottas set the quickest lap of the week late in the morning to top the overall time sheet for the week before Hamilton popped up second after a late afternoon run. The Silver Arrow mule meanwhile amassed another 138 seemingly seamless laps.

On the face of it, Ferrari struggled it's woes exasperated by Sebastian Vettel’s stopping with a power unit problem. It was replaced and Vettel managed 100 laps in the end, with the Ferrari a seemingly sluggish 13th at the end of the day. Renault on the other hand showed handy pace as Esteban Ocon ended third, 1.3 seconds off the pace after 76 laps, before handing the black car over to Daniel Ricciardo who racked up 93 laps in the afternoon in spite of a few issues.

Racing Point continued to impress as Lance Stroll put in 116 laps in aboard the pink Mercedes clone to go fourth ahead of Daniil Kvyat, who was best of the Hondas for AlphaTauri AT01, with Max Verstappen next up in the the Red Bull, followed by teammate Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon in the other Red Bull. Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris were 11th and 14th for McLaren.  

Haas hand Williams had Friday issues — Romain Grosjean crashed the Haas a second time in the week before teammate Kevin Magnussen only managed four laps before also going off in the afternoon, while Williams rookie Nicholas Latifi lost valuable time with power unit issues but still managed 72 laps.

The Wrap

Overall, Valtiteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton topped the first test week time sheets for Mercedes with Kimi Raikkonen and Alfa Romeo edging Esteban Ocon’s Renault, Racing Point pair Lance Strol and Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat’s AlphaTauri and Antonio Giovinazzi on the other Alfa Romeo for best of the rest honours. 

That an upbeat Max Verstappen was only ninth and Alexander Albon 12th and Ferrari pair Vettel 13th and Leclerc 16th as Ferrari insists it has not yet chased banzai times, means that it may not be wise to  make any predictions at this point.

Meanwhile Mercedes’s natural and easy pace can only remain an ominous sign, no matter how positive Max is or coy Ferrari may be — if that is indeed the writing on the wall, it may well be status quo up front. The 2020  midfield however seems not only be most vibrant this year, but it also appears far deeper — so much so that there may not even be a runt in this year’s F1 litter.

Week 2 commences Wednesday when Red Bull and Ferrari have indicated they may well soon strut their stuff, but then so too may Mercedes yet. It’s going to be an intriguing week — but don’t place any beys just yet! (Photo: Mercedes)

FYI...

2020 Fastest Lap (after 2½ days)
Bottas 1:15.732

2019 Fastest Lap (after 8 days)
Vettel 1:16.221#F1Testing pic.twitter.com/0tpj6tsaYU

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 21, 2020