2014 Formula 1 pre-season testing thread

Discuss Formula 1 Testing

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Post by Ed » Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:55 am

Best laptimes from the first day of testing in Bahrain:

Driver - Team - Best laptime - Laps
Hulkenberg - Force India - 1-36.880 - 78
Alonso - Ferrari - 1:37.879 - 64
Hamilton - Mercedes - 1:37.908 - 74
Magnussen - McLaren - 1:38.295 - 81
Vettel - Red Bull - 1:40.224 -14
Sutil - Sauber - 1:40.443 - 82
Frijns - Caterham -1:42.534 - 68
Kvyat - Toro Rosso - 1:44.346 - 5
Grosjean - Lotus - 1:44.832 - 8
Massa - Williams - No time - 5
Bianchi - Marussia - No time - 3

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Post by Ed » Thu Feb 20, 2014 4:42 pm

The second day of testing in Bahrain gets underway.

Rosberg in the Mercedes stopped on the track on his installation lap causing the first red flag of the day.

The drivers taking part today are:

Vettel - Red Bull
Rosberg - Mercedes
Alonso - Ferrari
Grosjean - Lotus
Magnussen - McLaren
Hulkenberg - Force India
Gutierrez - Sauber
Vergne - Toro Rosso
Bottas - Williams
Chilton - Marussia
Kobayashi - Caterham

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Post by Ed » Thu Feb 20, 2014 5:16 pm

Vergne in the Toro Rosso is the first to set a time today with a 1:41.851

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Post by Ed » Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:12 pm

Best laptimes so far from day 2:

Alonso Ferrari 1:37.700
Bottas Williams 1:37.882s +0.182
Hulkenberg Force India 1:38.394
Magnussen McLaren 1:39.958
Vettel Red Bull 1:40.540
Vergne Toro Rosso 1:40.609
Rosberg Mercedes 1:40.932
Gutierrez Sauber 1:41.135
Grosjean Lotus 1:41.670
Chilton Marussia 1:42.511
Kobayashi Caterham 1:45.059

There were a further 2 red flags so far. The second was again by Rosberg in the Mercedes while the third was by Vergne on the Toro Rosso

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 21, 2014 12:22 am

Best laptimes at the end of day 2 from Bahrain:

Driver Team Best Laptime Laps
Magnussen McLaren 1:34.910 46
Hulkenberg Force India 1:36.445 59
Alonso Ferrari 1:36.516 97
Rosberg Mercedes 1:36.965 85
Bottas Williams 1:37.328 116
Kobayashi Caterham 1:39.855 66
Vettel Red Bull 1:40.340 59
Vergne Toro Rosso 1:40.609 58
Gutierrez Sauber 1:40.717 55
Grosjean Lotus 1:41.670 18
Chilton Marussia 1:42.511 17

Testing continues tomorrow

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:51 am

Selected quotes from day 2 in Bahrain:

Magnussen (McLaren)
Unfortunately, we didn’t get too many laps done this morning, but it was good to get some laps done at the end of the day. The afternoon was good for us, and we worked through our problems.
The team is doing a great job to help me: they’re giving me really good guidance and making me feel confident. There’s a lot of discussion about laptimes, and it feels good to get some good times recorded, but winter testing is just that – testing. It isn’t about times.
We’re still learning a lot about the car. We have four more days of testing next week and there’s still a lot of work to do. I’m sure everything up and down the pitlane will change a lot between now and Australia.
Hulkenberg (Force India)
My two days in the car have been very positive. We’ve made some improvements to the car, collected lots of data, and continued to learn with each lap. At the moment it’s still early days, but I’m pleased with the progress we have made in terms of understanding the car. I think we are getting closer to seeing the potential of these cars, certainly compared with the performance in Jerez, but it’s such a steep learning curve and I expect the times to become quicker and quicker
Alonso (Ferrari)
We are not yet at the point where we can concentrate on performance, but the important thing is to continue to rack up kilometres. The team has done a great job of preparation over the winter for these tests, which has allowed us to do a lot of running and test all aspects linked to these new and complex technologies. At the moment, everything is going as we expected, but there are still a lot of new elements to learn about. Teams and drivers both have little time available and it will be a very big challenge for everyone to be ready when we get to Melbourne.
Rosberg (Mercedes)
We achieved another good amount of laps today which proves that the first part of testing in terms of reliability is going well. We had a few small issues but it's important to find out what they are to see what is not yet running perfectly. We need to push the car to the limits to see how it works in every condition. We don't yet know where we are in terms of performance, but today was a great day for me personally because I felt at home in the new car for the first time. All the settings were as we would like and the buttons on the steering wheel are now easier to get used to. I look forward to getting into the car again on Saturday.
Bottas (Williams)
Today was a good day. After the problems we had yesterday it was great to complete 116 laps. We still have things we are working through but we were able to do the aero work we needed as well as complete a race simulation so we now have lots of data to look at. There is a lot of work still to do so we need to aim to have more days like today.
Kobayashi (Caterham)
It was good to be back in the car and even though we had quite a few interruptions in the morning with a telemetry issue, we still completed 66 laps which is another useful day's work.
It's still too early to know where we really are, but being able to build the mileage every day is the only way we'll be able to get the most out of the car. Reliability is going to be so important this year, and it's good that the issues we've had here have been fixed well enough to allow us to keep running. It's also good to finish the day with a relatively quicker lap, but even though everyone knows laptimes don't really mean anything in the tests, it's good for the team to start to see us unlocking some of the car's performance.
Vettel (Red Bull)
Definitely a better day today, we did more laps, so that’s encouraging. It’s good to check the car, check the reliability, but obviously there is a lot still to do. It was good to get a proper first feel for the car and it feels OK but there’s a lot more to come. It’s difficult to talk about catching up [to rivals] because I don’t know what other people are doing, but we did more laps than we have done so far and that’s the big thing. We’re learning every single lap, even if the quality of the lap is sometimes not the best. However, the most important thing is to run and we did that. The last two days have been very useful. I hope Daniel can get some more good laps in tomorrow.
Vergne (Toro Rosso)
A good day, the best since testing began. This morning was relatively trouble free and we got through plenty of items on the job sheet. However, later in the day, we did experience a few minor technical troubles, that cut short our running time. It’s the first time I’ve been able to push the car on track and I have to say in terms of its balance, it gave me a good feeling. I hope that, as from tomorrow, when Daniil drives, we can start doing more and more kilometres.
Gutierrez (Sauber)
The morning was very productive. We managed to do a lot of laps and understand a lot of things that need to be done. There is a lot of work to do to understand everything properly, especially the engine and electronics. In Jerez it was important that everything was running and functioning. Here in Bahrain it’s time to put everything together and make sure all the components are in tune, so we can start working on the potential of the car.
Grosjean (Lotus)
We achieved some more laps today but there’s still work to be done. It’s been a frustrating couple of days as I want to get as many laps under my belt as possible, but at least we’re learning some things about the car. I’m looking forward to returning for next week’s test and seeing what progress has been made.
Chilton (Marussia)
My first day in the car got off to a good start. We were getting into the aero programme and gradually building towards some longer runs. Unfortunately we experienced the fuel system problem and to get to the root of that is quite a long and complicated process, so it took up most of the afternoon. We were seriously up against it time-wise, so all credit to the guys for pushing so hard and enabling us to get a further three laps in before the session end. These problems are all part of testing of course but we hope to start putting some bigger mileage on the car over the next couple of days.

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 21, 2014 5:33 pm

Third day of testing at Bahrain gets underway. The drivers taking part today are:

Ricciardo - Red Bull
Hamilton - Mercedes
Raikkonen- Ferrari
Maldonado - Lotus
Button - McLaren
Perez - Force India
Gutierrez - Sauber
Kvyat - Toro Rosso
Massa - Williams
Chilton - Marussia
Ericsson - Caterham

There has already been a stoppage early in the session and that was Chilton in the Marussia.

A few laptimes have been set but they are in the 1:40's

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:01 pm

So far Hamilton has set the quickest time with a 1:35.505, far ahead of anyone else. Button is second quickest with a 1:38.359.

Bottas is still testing with Williams, they are doing some pratice pit stops. Massa will be taking over later today

Force India have yet to go out onto the track

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 21, 2014 7:31 pm

Hamilton continues to top the timesheets. Now with a best time of 1:34.263. Gutierrez is second fastest with a 1:37.180

All 11 drivers have put in some laps. Perez in the Force India and Chilton in the Marussia only managing 4 laps each so far.

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:17 pm

Top times so far on day 3:

Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.263
Button McLaren 1:34.976
Gutierrez Sauber 1:37.180
Perez Force India 1:38.753
Massa Williams 1:39.528
Maldonado Lotus 1:39.642
Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:40.496
Ricciardo Red Bull 1:40.781
Raikkonen Ferrari 1:41.336
Ericsson Caterham 1:42.905
Chilton Marussia 1:46.672

There was a second red flag caused by the Lotus driven by Maldonado. Raikkonen in the Ferrari has only managed 12 laps as the team investigates a telemetry problem

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Post by Ed » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:32 am

Best laptimes and total laps at the end of day 3 of testing in Bahrain:

Driver Team Best Laptime Laps
Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.263 67
Button McLaren 1m34.976 103
Massa Williams 1m37.066 60
Gutierrez Sauber 1m37.180 96
Perez Force India 1m37.367 57
Raikkonen Ferrari 1m37.476 44
Kvyat Toro Rosso 1m38.974 57
Maldonado Lotus 1m39.642 26
Ricciardo Red Bull 1m40.781 28
Ericsson Caterham 1m42.130 98
Chilton Marussia 1m46.672 4
Bottas Williams No time 55 (pit stop practice)

There was one more red flag caused again by the Lotus of Maldonado.

Caterham almost covered as many laps as all the other Renault powered cars combined. Lotus and Red Bull in particular had limited running.

Marussia continue to struggle to get the car running having only completed 4 laps today, 17 yesterday and just 3 on the first day.

The first part of testing in Bahrain concludes tomorrow

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Post by Ed » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:57 am

Selected quotes from day 3:

Hamilton (Mercedes)
It was nice to be able to put together a good lap today because generally speaking there seems to be less grip available than last year. I'm looking forward to completing a race simulation next week as we didn't quite get to finish it today. We're trying to find any issues we can now to prevent them happening during a race situation, so from that perspective it's a positive that we were able to find and fix something again today. The car seems to be responding well to my style of driving and the power unit is looking promising, with all of the Mercedes-powered team completing good mileage. We won't know where we are for definite until we get to Melbourne so we're just continuing to focus on our run programmes, keep positive and look forward; the team has done a great job to get where we are today so we just need to keep that going.
Button (McLaren)
Today was a really busy session – my engineers looked exhausted afterwards, and I’ve never seen that before!
It was good to put some laps on the car without any major issues. We actually did a race distance in the afternoon, and it was nice to do that so early in testing. Still, that session showed us we still have a lot of work to do.
The thing we really need to focus on is fully understanding fuel-saving, and the communication required between the driver and engineer. I think we’ll get on top of things, though, because we’re traditionally very good at that.
We’re in a reasonable position: today was positive because we gathered so much information. There’s still a lot of work to do before the first race; we’d like to be faster, but when you look at other test days, you’d say we’re in reasonable shape
Massa (Williams)
It was a very busy afternoon. It was a shame we couldn't drive on the first day as that would have helped us get even further along today but the most important thing was that we found and solved the problem. The car then did 116 laps yesterday, and we did 115 laps today combined so that is very positive. We did a lot of pitstop practice, which was the main goal today, and I saw a big improvement from the start of the day to the end which is important for the team to be ready and prepared for the first race. I think we are going in a good direction. The car is running well and I am happy. There is still a lot to do and to understand about the car, and improvements to the set-up that we haven't had time to do yet, but it's very positive so far.
Gutierrez (Sauber)
It was another productive day. I did a good amount of laps and was able to drive decent long runs. We did have small issues, but were able to solve them quickly. Mechanically and aerodynamically the car is working well, and it is becoming more consistent. There is still some work to do in other areas, but we are making progress. I was able to explore a lot of ‘new-set’ tyres, and this is very helpful to get to know qualifying and race procedures. It is important to understand these procedures properly, so I know what to expect and to be able to predict how the tyres react in certain situations. This means I can extract the maximum out of them.
Perez (Force India)
Although I did two days of testing in Jerez, today was my first proper experience of the car with everything working as planned. There was a small delay this morning, but the rest of the day was interesting and we were able to do some good work in preparation for Melbourne. The first time I drove the car in Jerez it felt very different, but after today I am already getting used to the feeling. There’s less dowforce this year and lots of power so it’s an interesting challenge.
Raikkonen (Ferrari)
We didn’t do as many kilometres as we had been hoping for because even though the problem was a minor one, it still took a while to fix. It shows how complicated these new systems are, but in the afternoon we managed to run consistently. It was useful in terms of getting used to the environment inside the cockpit after the Jerez test and to check some settings relating to the balance of the car.
Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
This was the first time I have managed to do a lot of running and it was very important for me, as well as for the team, that I completed 57 laps. We worked on many things and made progress in several areas. There is still a lot to do, but I am happy at the end of what was a productive day. Tomorrow it’s Jev’s turn to keep moving forward and then we can have a few days to see what we have learned, before the final session starts again.
Maldonado (Lotus)
It’s great to complete my first day of testing with the team, even if we didn’t get the number of laps we’d want. The car feels good with what we’ve done so far and it’s great to be working with everyone in the garage. It’s all been very easy from that side of things and I know I’m going to work well with everyone through the year. We had some problems today, but we hope that tomorrow will be better. I can’t wait for some more laps.
Ricciardo (Red Bull)
It was going ok, I did some good laps and those came off the back of the more than 50 laps Seb did yesterday, so we’re getting there.
Obviously, I would have liked to do more this afternoon but we still have tomorrow ahead of us and it’s important to be ready for that. The car is definitely making progress though. It’s coming together bit by bit. We’d love a big chunk all at once but obviously that’s not the way these things work, so we have to be a bit patient for now. However, it is coming and we’re heading in the right direction. Tomorrow it would be nice to get more laps in and then roll on next week.
Ericsson (Caterham)
I'm pleased with how my first day on track in Bahrain went. 98 laps is obviously very good news in terms of reliability, and it also means I've passed the 300kms I needed to do to qualify for a Superlicence. The boys have worked really hard today and we've pretty much had no issues which meant I could just get on with the program, and that was the main goal for today.
Performance-wise there's still a lot more to come, both from the car and the engine. The times today didn't really mean anything, and although it's always nice to put in a quicker time, we've been doing pretty long runs all day and just working through the plan. Now I can't wait to get back in the car again and hopefully our reliability record so far will hold up.
Marussia statement:
On day three of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, we were hoping to put the frustrations of the past two days behind them and start gaining some solid mileage with the MR03. Unfortunately a problem arose with the engine early this morning, causing Max to stop out on track after completing four laps.
The engine anomaly was investigated by Scuderia Ferrari in tandem with a replacement engine being prepared for the car, in the hope that it may be possible to complete a few further laps at the end of the day. Despite best combined efforts, it was not possible to return the car to the track in the timeframe available and the focus switched to preparing for the final day of running tomorrow, when Jules Bianchi will be back in the car.

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Post by Ed » Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:30 pm

4th and final day of testing this week in Bahrain gets underway. The drivers taking part today are:

Ricciardo - Red Bull
Rosberg - Mercedes
Raikkonen - Ferrari
Maldonado - Lotus
Button - McLaren
Perez - Force India
Sutil - Sauber
Vergne - Toro Rosso
Nasr (test driver) - Williams
Bianchi - Marussia
Ericsson/Kobayashi (swapping at midday) - Caterham

Rosberg has already set an impressive time with a 1:33.283, the fastest so far this week. There have been two stoppages, the first by Ericsson in the Caterham and the second by Rosberg in the Mercedes.

Red Bull, Lotus, Sauber and Marussia have yet to set times

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Post by Ed » Sat Feb 22, 2014 7:51 pm

Best laptimes so far from day 4 in Bahrain:

Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.283
Button McLaren 1:34.957
Raikkonen Ferrari 1:37.132
Nasr Williams 1:39.036
Perez Force India 1:39.258
Ricciardo Red Bull 1:39.837
Vergne Toro Rosso 1:41.784
Maldonado Lotus 1:44.258
Ericsson Caterham 1:45.094

A third red flag was caused by the Force India driven by Perez. Ricciardo in the Red Bull has put in over 12 laps while Maldonado in the Lotus is starting to do some laptimes.
Ericsson in the Caterham only managed 4 laps before a problem halted his running. The team is hoping to have the car ready for Kobayashi after lunch.
Bianchi has just completed an installation lap for Marussia
Sauber have not gone out yet as they are replacing the chassis for Sutil. They are hoping to go out in the afternoon
Last edited by Ed on Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Ed » Sat Feb 22, 2014 10:08 pm

With just under 2 hours remaining in this test session, the times at the top of the timesheets haven't changed. Most teams continue to face problems causing very limited running.

Ricciardo in the Red Bull has only completed 15 laps
Kobayashi should take over from Ericsson in the Caterham but has yet to appear. Ericsson only managed 4 laps
Bianchi in the Marussia has only managed 2 installation laps
Sutil in the Sauber has just completed the first installation lap of the day

There are only 4 more days of testing before going to race in Melbourne, this is not looking very good not only for those teams but for Formula 1 as a whole. No one wants to see only a handful of cars finishing a race due to reliability.

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