With just a few days before the 2013 Australian Grand Prix opens the Formula One season, it is still anybody’s guess as to who will be out front. If preseason testing showed anything, it is that the top teams are still the same and the gap between them has shrunk to tenths of a second.

Putting miles on a new car is always helpful in understanding how to set it up and in terms of laps, Sauber and Mercedes (despite a rocky start) come out on top. Ferrari also racked up a few more laps than average but after them, almost everyone was grouped together at 1000 laps – an incredible amount in just 12 days of running with brand new machinery. The notable exceptions being Marussia and Lotus who both ran under 800 laps – the equivalent of several full race distances. That could translate into problems setting up the car and in terms of reliability for both teams during the opening races.

Overall though, 2013 looks like being even more open than 2012 which for fans is going to be wonderful.

Let’s go racing!

– MCZF1