I remember reading a interview with Honda around the time of their split with McLaren and they were saying that the reliability issues they were having with their engine wasn't helped by the design limitations of the McLaren chassis.

Torro Rosso don't seem to be having so many issues so far this year, yes they still aren't mighty quick, but they've been reliable.

One thing that the Winter testing has proven is something I guess we already knew. Bottas is nowhere near as quick as Lewis!

You could give Bottas all the talent in the world and he still wouldn't win. He's just not made of the right stuff. He's a perfect choice for a number 2 driver though. 

I agree with Martin abiut Ricciardo. I still believe he's a better driver than Verstappen and I look forward to him outscoring him again. 

I agree with the fact he will face bias. He saw off Vettel when he was similarly disadvantaged I'm hoping that he can get a better start to the season which will force RB to keep supporting him.

I also wonder whether Max will start to crack if he's being beaten by his team-mate as the season progresses. It'll all be academic if RB don't have a potential championship winning car though. It's early days but they don't look that impressive so far.

McLaren look set to follow Williams into mediocrity/irrelevance if they don't start picking up wins this year. They don't have an exclusive engine supplier and there are no great choices on the horizon for them either.

Another year without significant wins will likely see Alonso retire or jump to Indycar. If Alonso couldn't win, I don't see them attracting another big name driver. We then have a team with several barren years and no big name drivers. Sponsorship is bound to decline to a level where they will never be more than a mid-field team.

I really hope it doesn't play out that way but I wouldn't bet against it.

I'm beginning to see that Boullier may have a limited lifespan at McLaren now. He'd be a scapegoat because it all started before he arrived.

So what have we learnt from Winter testing?

Mercedes and Ferrari are quick, but who is quicker? there are people saying that Mercedes is a whole second ahead of the other teams, but I am not so sure.

Red Bull look quite tasty and even though McLaren look as unreliable as ever, they do look quicker than they were last year and closer to the top teams.

Force India looked lacklustre in the test, they weren't slow per say, but they just didn't seem up to the level we would usually expect from them, there are roomers of a name change and buy out, so maybe that distracted them.

Williams look in a better place than this time last year, but it'll be interesting to see what happens with their two drivers.

Toro Rosso were on fire, they were so reliable with their new Honda engine, who would have thought it?, speed wise, I think they were actually quicker than last year, but still nowhere near their top team, Red Bull, but I doubt they ever will be.

Haas looked quite tasty, they were putting in some quick laps. I just hope the Magnussen manages to crucify Grosjean, that would be funny.

Renault looked pretty good, and if they can get that engine anywhere near the Mercedes or Ferrari, we could see them moving up the grid.

Sauber, well their car looks better IMHO with the white and darker red from Alfa Romeo, will that partnership allow them to move from being right at the back of the grid this year?

Interesting year to come. Let's just hope that that Mercedes isn't as quick as some people think, otherwise it'll be another one horse showing and Lewis the champion. Which, even though I am a Lewis fan, would be boring!

I'm not so sure it's clear cut. If the Mercedes has the overall balance, the Ferrari may just possibly have more usable power and the Red Bull is more slippery. I can see each one liking different circuits. What Mercedes undoubtedly has is reliability. On the downside, it's the least consistent across all tyre types.

Don't take Australia as the sign of things to come, it probably naturally favours the Mercedes. It's going to be a long and fascinating season. And who's to say that McLaren or Renault don't surprise us at some point?

The Mercedes are looking ominously good, Red Bull surprisingly good on race pace, too.