The W17 emerged as one of the clear protagonists of the Montmeló test, very much in line with expectations. Not so much on pure lap times — which remain largely relative at this stage of the season — but above all in terms of mileage, underlining what already looks like a dependable power unit and giving the Brackley engineers the freedom to shift their focus toward set-up work and outright performance once Bahrain testing comes.

Neither George Russell and Kimi Antonelli encountered any significant issues whenever the car was sent out on track, and while it never hurts to repeat that testing is just testing, completing the planned programme without setbacks is already an important first step toward grabbing early headlines.

Bahrain will represent the W17’s first real litmus test. From a reliability and mileage standpoint the signs are more than encouraging, but the true question remains whether that solid foundation will hold up once the stopwatch starts to matter for real.

For months in recent years there had been a wave of media alarmism surrounding the new regulations, with many predicting a repeat of 2014 and engines breaking down after just a handful of laps.

None of that has materialised. On the contrary, the new-generation power units have already exceeded expectations in terms of mileage, to the point that teams have been able to move beyond simple reliability runs and begin showing their first tentative signs of performance.

It is yet another reminder that rumours remain just that until the track delivers its verdict — and this time, the verdict has already spoken loud and clear.

The AMR26 hit the track relatively late compared to its rivals, managing just four laps on day four before Fernando Alonso added a further 61 on the final day. Despite the limited running, however, the car has already become a major talking point thanks to several technical solutions that appear notably innovative when set against the rest of the field.

One of the most eye-catching features is the mounting point of a rear suspension arm directly onto the twin-pillar rear-wing support — a detail that highlights the almost obsessive level of attention Adrian Newey has applied to the suspension layout.

Expectations surrounding the British designer were understandably high, and at least from a first visual impression the car has not disappointed. The real question now is whether that early intrigue will translate into outright performance once the cars line up in Melbourne.

The seven-time world champion is coming off a first Ferrari season to forget, yet he does carry an intriguing statistic in his favour: every time he has joined a new team in the past, he has gone on to win the title the following year.

Hamilton looked immediately energised at the wheel of the SF-26, striking a cautiously optimistic tone in interviews but, more importantly, walking away with the outright fastest time across all five combined days of testing.

While lap times at this stage of the year always need to be taken with a pinch of salt, the Briton still appeared keen to send a clear message to both his team-mate and the rest of the grid — this new generation of cars could well usher in a revitalised Hamilton.

The two newest additions to the grid, both edging closer to their official Formula 1 debut, have — as expected — run into the typical growing pains of projects that are hugely ambitious yet still very much in their infancy.

Audi in particular paid a heavy price for the various technical issues encountered across the five days, only partially recovering the lost mileage on the final day but still managing to gather valuable data in the process.

A similar story applies to the American giant, which is preparing to join the grid entirely from scratch with returning names Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas, although the Ferrari power unit powering its package has so far appeared noticeably more robust than Audi’s early showing.