What we have learned so far...

[thearmofbarlow]

- The top teams are still the top teams.
- Lotus has very capable cars.
- Williams and Sauber aren more than capable of taking a handful of podiums this year.
- I actually prefer the SPEED commentators over the Sky crew. I know this makes me a very small minority.
- Ferrari isn't as screwed as initially believed.

What else?

[JimClarkFan]

I think you've spoke too soon for Ferrari. Alonso may have come 5th but he was lapping consistently 1 second slower that the front runners and the williams and sauber seemed faster than him yet he posted in front of them.

Having possibly one of the best drivers of all time piloting your car may be masking just how bad that Ferrari is. I feel sorry for Alonso because he deserves more.

[SBarretta]

Red Bull and McLaren certainly look like the teams to beat this year, and after this weekend, it looks as if the two are relatively equal in pace. I think Ferrari should have the resources to pull away from Williams/Sauber as the season progresses, but I don't see them catching Red Bull and McLaren. I also think that Lotus will start to fall behind in development, not unlike last year.

Also, I strongly agree with the fact that Alonso masks Ferrari's current condition. The man is just a magician with ill-balanced cars. Felipe may not be on top form, but I think his performance is a better indicator of the state of the team.

[godlameroso]

That Sauber must be under contract to not pass the Ferrari, because both Kobayashi and Perez could have easily passed Massa, but it wasn't until Raikkonen started pestering them that they actually made a move. In short that Ferrari is in the same category as Force India, or Toro Rosso.

[raymondu999]

Based on what we've seen so far - we could be in for a 2009-like season; a season so topsy-turvy where any team could really pop up at whim

[thearmofbarlow]

Alonso is, IMO, the best pure driver on the grid. Give him a turnip cart and he'll get you points. That said I don't think he's so much better than everyone else that he could put that much time between him and someone in an (ostensibly) identical car. They have the speed. What they don't have is the handling. That much is clear, the way the rear end was dancing around all weekend.

[raymondu999]

That was clear all through testing. It was very picky in terms of your driving technique and driving lines. Unless you weredoing everything right it wouldn't really yield a laptime. The pace is actually there.

[AdrianoZed]

Agree with OP, to add to that seems that this year everyone made steps forward except Ferrari

[WhiteBlue]

I would say we learned the approximate pecking order in qualy and race trim.

McLaren
Red Bull
Mercedes
Lotus
Williams
Ferrari
Force India
Sauber
Toro Rosso
Caterham
Marussia
HRT

[JornGhielen]

- The top teams are still the top teams.
- Lotus has very capable cars.
- Williams and Sauber aren more than capable of taking a handful of podiums this year.
- I actually prefer the SPEED commentators over the Sky crew. I know this makes me a very small minority.
- Ferrari isn't as screwed as initially believed.

What else?

I agreed on this, but i dont think williams and sauber will take a handful of podiums to be honnest. Whould be great for the sport but i dont see that happening.

[zoro_f1]

• Mclaren | Red Bull -->> title contenders.

• Williams | Mercedes | Ferrari -->> battle for third place.

• Lotus | Sauber | Force India | Toro Rosso -->> battle for sixth.

• Caterham | Marussia | HRT -->> battle for one point.

[WhiteBlue]

... i dont think williams and sauber will take a handful of podiums to be honnest. Whould be great for the sport but i dont see that happening.

I think Williams sooner than Sauber. It depends how quickly they can exploit their initial strength. Neither team has the funds to run a development race against Mercedes or Ferrari, not even Lotus. So unless they score until Monaco they are unlikely to harvest anything from their initial strength.

zoro your lists should be more like this:

• Mclaren | Red Bull -->> title contenders.

• Williams | Mercedes | Lotus | Ferrari -->> battle for third place.

• Sauber | Force India | Toro Rosso -->> battle for seventh.

• Caterham | Marussia | HRT -->> battle for one point.

[zoro_f1]

everyone is expecting that lotus will have a good year but they will strugle. that's my opinion.

[Maynard G. Krebs]

For what it's worth, Caterham seems to be a large step ahead of HRT and Marussia.

[Tomba]

I believe Lotus is in much better shape than Mercedes AMG. Especially on race pace they appear to be quite impressive, but until we really see some of their drivers run in front after starting from the front, we'll be able to judge correctly.

As always, time will tell