F1 teams facing set-up headaches with sensitive 2017 cars

One of the characteristics that has emerged since winter testing is that relatively small tweaks to either car or tyre settings can have a big impact on handling.

It is why a lot of teams have struggled to find consistency with the feel of their cars over race weekends – with leading outfits Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull all enduring phases in either tests or practice where they fallen out of the ideal set-up window.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff believes that the way Lewis Hamilton struggled more than Ferrari with tyre degradation in Australia revolved around this setup characteristic.

"I believe that these tyres have a narrow window, and you need to keep them in that window in order for them to perform well," he said.

"If you're below the window or above the window, you lose performance. So that is different to the last years. It needs a new calibration for all of us and understanding of the tyres."

Red Bull boss Christian Horner says his team needs to widen the operating window for its RB13, having struggled at times over the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

"I think we need to broaden the window," said Horner. "It's quite a narrow window at the moment, but at least the car is reacting to change, so we need to understand that and build on that."

Although Red Bull lost out to Mercedes and Ferrari in Australia, Horner remains convinced his team can make good progress with its car this year.

"I think Ferrari has done a great job on engine and chassis," he said. "They've had a strong winter. But the season is 20 races, not one, so let's judge the season as a whole at the end of the year.

"I believe that we have a good basis and a good direction and I think that as the regulations are very immature I think things will move quite quickly. I honest believe that we will get ourselves in a competitive situation during the year."