Technical director Paddy Lowe admits the focus in 2018 will be on the development of the new Williams FW41 rather than immediate results.

The first car to be created under the leadership of Lowe, it is a significant shift in concept compared to last year with Williams hoping to turn around the disappointing results of the past two seasons.

A largely underwhelming performance in testing, however, has worried some fans, particularly after the decision to replace Felipe Massa with Sergey Sirotkin for this year but Lowe insists the drivers are not to blame.

"I think a large degree of change both in the team that delivered the car and the car itself, that can take a while to develop and optimise," the former Mercedes boss told ESPN.

"We can make a lot more progress within the season and even into next. It's still early in the potential I think that's in the team.

"The limitation in the car at the moment is corner entry instability," Lowe continued. "It's particularly exaggerated at the moment with what we're running and if we can unlock some progress there we will find a lot more lap time than we've got.

"Some other aspects of the car are working really, really strongly through other phases of the corner."

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Entering his second year with Williams, Lowe also continues to be impressed by the operation the British team has while also seeing room for improvement.

"Williams' ability to measure aerodynamic performance is one of the strongest I've seen. The technology and the people together is very strong," he said.

"We've got a great wind tunnel, it's well up there with the best. So we've got good tools and we make good use of them but I think there's potential to do even more."

Daniel Ricciardo claims he and Red Bull head to Australia with "much more confidence" than in recent years after a strong pre-season in Barcelona.

Fed up with being uncompetitive at the start of the year, the Milton Keynes outfit started work earlier on the RB14 to ensure a better platform heading into testing, and it worked with Ricciardo completing 100 laps on Day 1 and from there has evolved with the team appearing more genuine contenders.

That is particularly good news for the man from Down Under who is yet to officially finish on the podium at his home race Albert Park and is set to start properly considering his Red Bull future in the next month or so.

"We're certainly more ready than we were last year - and probably every year before that since I've been with the team," he said after testing concluded last Friday.

"We did a lot of laps, I think the pace of the car is not bad, I think we still have some things to improve, it's normal.

"Going to the race [in Melbourne], I think we have much more confidence now."

Though it's clear Red Bull is in a stronger position than certainly this time last year, Ricciardo does still doubt whether he and teammate Max Verstappen can match Mercedes and Ferrari in Australia.

"I think we're looking okay," he stated. "I don't think we're yet the fastest car, I think we've still got to find a bit of time, but I think we'll be close enough to be in the hunt."

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Speaking separately, Verstappen revealed a more specific target he thinks the Anglo-Austrian team has to meet if they want to challenge for victories.

"Once you are within three or four tenths in qualifying, at least you can fight them in the race because normally in the race it should be a bit closer," the Dutchman claimed.

"We are definitely targeting to be in those three tenths."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has rejected Renault's deadline of May to decide whether they will remain a customer of the French manufacturer in 2019.

This season is the last in the current contract between the two parties who have had a tumultuous relationship in recent years with Renault's inability to close the performance and reliability gap to Mercedes often cited by Red Bull as the reason for their lack of competitiveness.

A previous attempt to split in 2015 failed due to having no alternatives but this time it is different with Honda supplying junior team Toro Rosso and the Japanese engine showing great improvement during testing.

"Honda has had a fantastic start with Toro Rosso," Horner said. "Obviously, we're in a good position to keep an eye on their progress in the first half of the year. We're going to follow it with great interest."

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Those comments aren't helping to heal any Renault wounds with managing director Cyril Abiteboul issuing the May deadline to Red Bull with some suggesting the Milton Keynes outfit may be left with no choice but to switch to Honda next season.

"What we understand is that May is when you have to give an indication to the FIA, but that does not mean a commitment," Horner told Spain's El Confidencial.

"It will be decided at the end of the summer. That's the realistic timing of when the decisions have to be made."

Brendon Hartley believes his Toro Rosso team can target scoring points at the season-opening Australian GP after "exceeding expectations" in testing.

Switching to Honda power for 2018, fears of the Japanese manufacturer dragging the junior Red Bull outfit down were unfounded as the STR13 ran almost seamlessly throughout the eight days in Barcelona.

Further optimism came from teammate Pierre Gasly, as the Frenchman was seventh on the list of fastest lap times throughout pre-season and that means Toro Rosso is already ahead of where they hoped to be heading to Melbourne.

"Everyone is pumped up and positive," said Hartley, who will be at his defacto home race as it is the closest to his native New Zealand.

"The initial brief from Toro Rosso was that Melbourne might be tough but actually after these test days we’ve exceeded our own expectations and we are definitely in the fight for those points.

"It’s still hard to get a clear picture of where everyone lines up but we have to go to Melbourne with the right attitude and make the most of it and hopefully come out with my first F1 point," he concluded.

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The rate of Honda's improvement, after three poor years with McLaren, was one of the big stories to come out of Spain, particularly as their smooth running juxtaposed the problems the British team were dealing with.

Their lack of problems even led some to wonder if Honda was using a power unit per day to achieve their reliability but technical director James Key revealed that was not the case.

“They really have only run one engine for the entirety of test two,” he claimed.

“It’s run pretty much faultlessly throughout, other than a minor issue towards the end of the test where we stopped the car as a precaution to have a look at the issue in more detail and not take any risks.

“Given we were close to the completion of our programme anyway, we felt it was better to spend some time on that, but otherwise everything with them has run faultlessly.”

Valtteri Bottas has cast doubt on suggestions Mercedes hold a significant speed advantage over the field heading into the new Formula 1 season.

Though it was Ferrari who set the quickest times in pre-season testing, analysis of long-run pace and the difference in tyre compounds has led some to believe the world champions could be as much as a full second clear of the rest heading to the first race in Australia in less than two weeks.

In Barcelona, Mercedes admitted they have yet to turn up the engine power or run low fuel - as was demonstrated by their positioning most days in the speed traps - plus they have yet to use the Hypersoft tyre, instead, completing much of their work on the Medium compound.

“We are definitely not a second ahead of the others,” Bottas stated when the hypothesis was put to him. “We need to keep working for the week and a half before we travel to Melbourne but will be interesting to find out where we will be.”

One reason some are also sceptical is Mercedes traditionally struggle to extract performance from the softer tyre compounds and were reportedly struggling with blistering on the faster rubber when conditions warmed up in the second week.

"Hopefully it will be different in Melbourne, but on the new track surface here in Barcelona we had some difficulties," the Finn conceded.

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As for his own expectations this season, Bottas is feeling the pressure to pose a year-long threat to teammate Lewis Hamilton but is confident he is better prepared to deal with the four-time world champion.

"Lewis is a great driver and I should never get upset if he is quicker than me at times," he said. 

"For sure I was beating myself up a lot last year when I was struggling but that's all part of the learning process and you always learn about yourself as well every season.

"I am going in with a good mindset for this year. I know I can do a lot of good things so let's see race by race."

Finally, the 28-year-old was adamant he could come out on top against Hamilton without using the mind games employed by Nico Rosberg in 2016.

"I'm going to focus on my own performance on the track. I will be quick in practice, qualifying and in the races, focusing my energy on that," Valtteri said.

"For sure Nico worked very hard, he took three years to beat Lewis, but he beat him by working hard. I believe it's possible."

Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli has gone aggressive with the compounds they have nominated for the Spanish and Canadian Grand Prix's later in 2018.

Two circuits usually at either end of the spectrum, a new surface at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is allowing Pirelli to go much softer with their tyres than in recent years, with the old tarmac famous for being very abrasive.

From being the only venue where the Hard tyre was used last season, now the Supersoft, Soft and Medium will be used when F1 returns in May with the new approach also part of an effort to ensure multi-stop strategies.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal has the opposite characteristics with cars running low downforce and a very low grip surface as the track is only used for racing once a year.

As a result, it is the first race which Pirelli has nominated the new Hypersoft compound, along with the Ultrasoft and Supersoft. Canada won't be the first race it is used, however, as the Monaco Grand Prix takes place two weeks prior.

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The decision to use the pink-striped rubber was delayed slightly to see how it would perform in testing and, according to Renault technical director Nick Chester, durability is better than expected.

"The Hypersoft hung on a lot better than we expected," he said. "We thought it might be a single-lap tyre but Nico [Hulkenberg] had three good push laps on it with cool laps in-between and was quickest on his last one.

"It was a bit grained by the last lap but for a high energy track like here [Barcelona] it was hanging on quite well," he added.

Sauber team principal Fred Vasseur isn't putting pressure on highly-rated rookie Charles Leclerc to produce immediate results as he steps up to Formula 1.

The Monegasque arrives at the pinnacle of motorsport with back-to-back championship successes in GP3 and F2 as well as being the lead member of the Ferrari Academy program.

Indeed, after his remarkable performances to win the feeder series last year, many believe it could only be a matter of a few years before the 20-year-old dons the red overalls, but Vasseur is urging patience.

“I know Charles for… not 10 years but more or less because he’s done go-karting with us,” the Frenchman, who has strong connections with junior team ART Grand Prix said last week.

“He was very successful so far. He won more or less everything, but the next step will be the biggest one for sure. 

"To do F1 is a different story. You have to learn about tyres, about energy management, about engine management to deal with you. It’s a lot of things."

Alongside Marcus Ericsson at Sauber, some believe Leclerc could actually lead the Swiss team forward this season, but his boss insists success will be measured by other factors.

“I don’t have to put too much pressure on the shoulders. You have to deliver, but what is most important for me is to show he can improve across the course of the season," he said. "I know where we are today, similar for Charles also.

"He has a very positive attitude, and I’m fully convinced that he will do the job."

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His first F1 pre-season was solid enough in Barcelona, though a mistake on the final day, spinning into the gravel at the Turn 12, did frustrate the obviously keen youngster.

"I think the pace was very good on the lap I was doing but obviously I did not finish it. Completely my fault," he said.

"I will learn from it. We lost a bit of time on track because of me and this is something that should not have happened. It’s a bit stupid from my side to do it so early in the day, but it happens."

Asked how he felt ahead of his first Grand Prix in Australia, Leclerc added: “I feel ready, definitely, these two tests have taught me a lot.

“Obviously Formula 1 is still pretty new to me but on the performance side I think we are there. I think I’ve improved a lot in this test."

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier remains positive about the potential of the MCL33, though admits the team is "not 100%" ready for the Australian GP.

After switching to Renault engines for this season, the Woking-based team was expected to have a much less eventful pre-season than in recent years but, instead, several failures over the eight days means questions do remain going into the first race in Melbourne.

One such question is whether McLaren, who faced a tight schedule to adapt their car to the French engine, has been too aggressive but Boullier insists there was no point in playing safe.

"We want to be competitive and we are ambitious," he told Autosport. "We have an ambitious design around the car and you can see that the car is a little bit different from the other Renault-engined cars.

"So far we had minor issues but I think that was because we didn't do a good enough job to prepare the car."

The main issue McLaren had in Barcelona was with cooling, as overheating led to electrical shutdowns before oil leaks forced Fernando Alonso to stop on track both on Wednesday and Friday.

An upgrade is expected for the first race in just over two weeks but Boullier concedes the interrupted running has left the team slightly on the back foot.

"Not 100% because we have not run as much as we wanted, so there will be a higher risk of failure somewhere," he said of their readiness for Australia.

"Nevertheless we had only minor issues which were all different. A good rebuild of the car for Australia will help us to fix a few issues."

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As for the potential competitiveness of McLaren, hopes of challenging Red Bull and the other top teams currently seem too much but the Frenchman isn't counting the team out.

"Let's wait and see," he said. "If you judge based on a few issues on three days, it is better to wait a few races.

"Like anything, you don't do it in one day and there are maybe a few glitches. We have not lost our capability of designing fast cars and I hope you will see it on track soon."

Lewis Hamilton's desire to keep Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes beyond 2018 is tactical, according to ex-Renault driver Jolyon Palmer.

The Finn is currently signed to just a one-year deal with the world champions after his strong start at the Brackley-based team tempered off after the summer break as he struggled to match his teammate.

His arrival from Williams did have a big change in the atmosphere within Mercedes and the relationship Hamilton has struck with Bottas is often what the Briton cites as his reason for wanting him alongside.

As part of his new role as a pundit with the BBC, however, Palmer thinks Lewis' backing is more about status within the team.

"It’s a very similar situation to what we’ve got at Ferrari where Sebastian Vettel is kind of the No. 1 driver, whether officially or not, and he’s voiced his support for Kimi Raikkonen to stay there," he told the British broadcaster.

"When you have a situation like this in the team, you have one guy that is the No 1 then they don’t want the second guy to be as quick, it’s natural. He’s a competitor and he can also be helpful in a title run-in."

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The idea of Hamilton getting priority has always been rejected by motorsport boss Toto Wolff, who has insisted both Mercedes drivers are free to race. The 33-year-old has also always maintained he enjoys the competition too, wherever it comes from.

"The more competition there is, the more fun it is to watch," he stated. "The ultimate goal is that we hopefully have more teams fighting for the championship.

"I think there was one year where had six different winners in the first six races, or whatever it was. That’s only good for the sport."

Max Verstappen has rubbished thoughts McLaren and Renault could challenge Red Bull this season, claiming it would be a bad reflection on his team.

Both the works team and their new customer are expected to feature at the front of the midfield if not be on the coattails of the front three in 2018, with Renault continuing to build their operation at Enstone and McLaren hoping a change of engine will bolster their performance.

The Dutch Red Bull driver is confident, however, that the Milton Keynes outfit won't have to look over their shoulder as they look to fight Mercedes and Ferrari for the championship.

"You pay attention to everybody, but I don't think they will be our main rivals," Verstappen told Autosport in Barcelona this week. "We don't want that to be the case as well because that would mean we are not doing such a good job. We need to look [at the teams] ahead."

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Red Bull have looked more competitive in testing, completing many more laps than they have in recent years and shown better potential too, and that has given advisor Helmut Marko reason for optimism.

"I would say from the chassis side, yes, but Mercedes in qualifying, there always comes from the engine an extra two or three tenths," he said considering if the RB14 was now level with the current world champions.

"What we have seen is that their [Mercedes'] rear tyres are overheating. It is depending on the overall package and we still have something to come, so we are positive."

The Austrian also played down Ferrari's rapid pace in the final two days, with Sebastian Vettel smashing the unofficial lap record on Thursday that was first broken by Daniel Ricciardo the day prior.

"We don't know the sort of fuel load they have, but from a package overall, and let's say on this circuit, it looks like we are a little bit ahead," Marko claimed.