Jolyon Palmer has explained why there may be a silver lining for the F1 teams that struggled in the first 2022 pre-season test. The recent three-day testing event in Barcelona seemed to go better for some than others, with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren being tipped as ones to watch after completing an extensive amount of laps. However, it was not an entirely positive few days for some. Haas and Alfa Romeo came away with the least mileage of all, having achieved 159 and 175 laps respectively, in comparison to Ferrari's 439 and Mercedes' 393. Meanwhile Alpine had to cut their time at the test short following issues with their car in the morning of the final day, and this same scenario affected Aston Martin.
Palmer: This pre-season test is the time to struggle
However, it may not all be bad news for those teams that did not achieve as many laps as others. The test in Barcelona was not broadcast, yet there will be cameras filming when a second pre-season test takes place in Bahrain on 10-12 March. Palmer thinks that the behind-closed-doors running in Spain was a better time than any to have problems, and also believes that things could potentially look very different when F1 arrives in Bahrain for the next test session. "If you're going to struggle at some point, the not-filmed Barcelona pre-testing test is going to be the time to do it," Palmer said on Formula1.com . "But it is just that really. The official pre-season test is in Bahrain. All these cars, we're trying to dissect, [but] it could all look really different in Bahrain and this is all nul and void. "There's a lot of time before the first race. This is still fascinating, but it's ever-moving goals, especially with the new generation [of cars]." The 2022 F1 season will get underway at the Bahrain Grand Prix, just one week on from the next pre-season testing event.
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