Lewis Hamilton :''Like last year's car, but better" (Sports)

As the sun set on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday evening, was it a metaphor for the fading hopes of any team who thought they might challenge Mercedes in Formula 1 this year?

It is a measure of the apparent superiority of the world champions over the rest of the F1 field as pre-season testing comes to an end that the customary game of cloak and dagger has been abandoned.

Usually, teams and drivers will spend the winter trying to convince the media that they don't know where they are, that it is impossible to predict the competitive picture because of the unknowns of fuel loads, car specifications and so on. 

We know they're fibbing; they know we know they're fibbing. The clever computer simulations and mountains of data they work with mean they always know pretty much where they stand. But the evasion is part of the game.

Not this year, though.

Here is a selection of quotes from leading drivers over the course of the final four-day test, which ended at Spain's Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday afternoon.

McLaren's Jenson Button: "Mercedes are unbelievably quick and we are obviously a long way off."

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel: "It's clear Mercedes are in front. After that there seems to be a bit of a gap and then it is a lot closer, between many teams."

Williams' Felipe Massa: "They're quick. We know they're quick. It's not a surprise that Mercedes have a very good package."

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean: "Mercedes are far ahead and then it seems to be quite tight behind."

Not much room for doubt there.