Spanish Grand Prix is an opportunity for the Scuderia to unlock their potential and challenge Mercedes with a host of upgrades

With the opening four races complete, Formula One’s return to Europe heralds the opening of a crucial development battle at the front and rear of the grid.

The Spanish Grand Prix will see a host of upgrades rolled out and intriguingly a rerun of the phoney war in testing that should serve as a benchmark against which to judge the relative performance of Mercedes and Ferrari.

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Mercedes have opened the season with a record four consecutive one-two finishes. With the exception of Bahrain, where a mechanical problem cost Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc victory, they have deserved to take the flag in every case and have a 74-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.

Yet Toto Wolff has said the results flattered Mercedes. “There is no complacency about our situation because we know that it’s not truly representative of the balance of power this season so far,” the team principal said.

His cautious assessment is based on the pace Ferrari showed in pre-season testing at Barcelona. In Spain, as Wolff put it, Ferrari were “blisteringly quick”, appearing to be as much as three-tenths a lap faster than Mercedes. But that pace did not carry over into the opening races.

The Scuderia will be desperate to replicate that pace in Barcelona on Sunday. They brought an aerodynamic upgrade to the last round at Baku, centred around the bargeboards and rear wing, but have more to come in Barcelona – which is seen in the F1 paddock as the start of the European leg of the season if Azerbaijan politically and geographically sits in Europe. An engine upgrade – planned for Canada – will be brought forward for this week’s race.

It shows just how urgent is their need to narrow the gap, as Ferrari’s principal Mattia Binotto acknowledges. “We are behind in the championship and we have to catch up,” he said. “Which we know means that our development work will be the key to this season.”

The problem facing Ferrari does not seem to have been a lack of horses and their engine has been acknowledged as perhaps the best on the grid. Rather it has been in understanding how to put their cars in the sweet spot of the Pirelli tyres’ operating window and keeping them there, particularly through low-speed corners. Doing so is proving to be an intricate and testing task but when Ferrari have achieved it successfully, as Leclerc did in Bahrain, they were untouchable.

A new engine will not necessarily make this task any easier but because Mercedes will doubtless bring their first major upgrades of the season to Barcelona, so Ferrari must a least match them in the relentless search for improvement. They have reason for optimism, however.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Valtteri Bottas won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to give Mercedes a record four consecutive one-two finishes. Photograph: Pixathlon/Rex/Shutterstock

Planted through the corners and exceptionally quick, with no apparent tyre-window weakness, in testing Ferrari looked every bit championship winners. Repeat that performance and compare it to the data from the four opening races, and the biggest single development Ferrari may enjoy in Spain will be understanding how to unlock their potential and reigniting the title fight. It has, after all, been a good week for comebacks.

Red Bull, who have been steadily developing their car’s aerodynamics, will be making what principal Christian Horner calls “subtle” changes in Spain: evolution rather than revolution. Based on the front and rear wings, this incremental approach is likely to complement a competitive start to the season that saw the Red Bulls move closer to Mercedes and Ferrari in China and Azerbaijan. If Honda continue to improve their engine, upgraded once already, a couple of tenths will put Red Bull up with the front two.

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Expect some strong steps forward also for Racing Point, already enjoying a positive start to the season. They are now able to make use of the financial largesse of their new owners to bring their car forward, with mechanical and aerodynamic upgrades expected, as do McLaren.

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Firmly last on the grid, Williams return to Barcelona with cautious optimism. Their car was not ready to run in testing and since then has been way off the pace and a handful to drive. In Baku they lost a chassis when a loose drain cover smashed into George Russell’s car and then Robert Kubica crashed in qualifying. They have yet to score a point.

This week the deputy team principal Claire Williams said the team had finally cleared the backlog in manufacturing of parts which had consumed their time since the season began and were now ready to bring upgrades. The team are using Williams co-founder Patrick Head as a consultant and Russell believes they can make major advances.

The updates in Barcelona will help show where they now need to focus and if Williams can do anything to rescue their position. “Based on those results it will help us understand if we’ve got any hope for the remainder of the season or not,” Russell said.

There will be no sudden surge forward but after suffering only defeat and retreat, Williams are entitled to hope this battle in the development war is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.