Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Felipe Massa - Williams, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Felipe Massa - Williams, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Romain Grosjean - Lotus, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Romain Grosjean - Lotus, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Valtteri Bottas - Williams & Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Valtteri Bottas - Williams & Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Pastor Maldonado - Lotus, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Pastor Maldonado - Lotus, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Pastor Maldonado - Lotus, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Pastor Maldonado - Lotus, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Jenson Button - McLaren, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Jenson Button - McLaren, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Kevin Magnussen - McLaren, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Kevin Magnussen - McLaren, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Valtteri Bottas, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Valtteri Bottas, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Felipe Nasr - Sauber, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Felipe Nasr - Sauber, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso, Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes,  Winter Testing,  Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, Winter Testing, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 2015

Formula 1 winter testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, 2015

The final 2015 Formula 1 winter testing took place at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya. These photographs are from the final two days. Winter testing is a fantastic chance to see the new seasons cars for the first time. I really enjoy these sessions and try to get out here for testing whenever possible. The circuit organisers do a fantastic job of opening the stands to the public. This means as a photographer you have near unrestricted access to all parts of the track.

This year the question was if anyone could catch the dominate Mercedes F1 Team. It appears that Ferrari, with their new driver, 4 times world champion Sebastian Vettel appear to have found additional pace over the winter. The new car is one of the best looking Ferraris for a long time, much sleeker compared to the more boxier designs from previous years. Williams appear to be the other contenders for top challengers. Their Martini livery is the best again this year.

One of the great things about winter testing is teams run alternative liveries, such as Red Bull this year. The came to testing with a fantastic monochrome colour scheme, which not only looked great, but hid many of the subtleties of the RB11. Unfortunately the Renault power unit appears to be off the pace. Toro Rosso could be a bit of a surprise, Max Verstappen looked very good during the testing.

Talking of being off the pace, McLaren were woeful. Alonso crashed badly at the second test and was replaced by Kevin Magnussen. The new Honda partnership needing more time to settle down. Strange livery, they had the chance to do something special, and while the bright orange has a strange, quite beautiful shimmering effect when blur the car with long exposures. The rest of the colours are a disappointment. I have read that they will introduce a new livery, which would be good.

Lotus are looking good again. The black and gold is a wonderful colour scheme. This year it has been updated with modern lines and actually looks stunning. The new Mercedes engine should bring them back up the grid. The same can't be said about Force India, their new livery is not their best and delays in getting the new car ready mean that it could be a long season for them. Sauber have made a step forward after an awful year, but their new colour scheme has something of GP2 about it.