2014 Formula 1 pre-season testing thread

Discuss Formula 1 Testing

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Post by Ed » Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:38 am

The first part of testing in Bahrain has concluded. The best laptimes and total laps for the day are:

Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.283 89
Button McLaren 1:34.957 66
Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.718 82
Nasr Williams 1:37.569 87
Maldonado Lotus 1:38.707 59
Perez Force India 1:39.258 19
Ricciardo Red Bull 1:39.837 15
Vergne Toro Rosso 1:40.472 19
Kobayashi Caterham 1:43.027 17
Ericsson Caterham 1:45.094 4
Bianchi Marussia No time 5
Sutil Sauber No time 5

3 more red flags late in the afternoon, Rosberg in the Mercedes, Sutil in the Sauber and Raikkonen in the Ferrari all stopped on the track.

The Renault powered teams continue to have major problems and being unable to run for long and with seemingly limited power. Maldonado in the Lotus is the only Renault powered car to set a time under the 1:39 mark, by comparison, Mercedes broke the 1:34 mark today.

There are just 4 more test days remaining (starting from next Thursday) before the start of the 2014 Formula 1 season

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Post by Ed » Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:28 am

Selected quotes from day 4 in Bahrain:

Mercedes
Nico Rosberg
We can be very pleased with the first test in Bahrain this week. We completed a lot of mileage and learnt more about the car with every lap we achieved. This morning we were able to try some qualifying practice runs which felt good, meaning I could attack the lap a bit as I found a good balance. Later in the day we did a race simulation, which was crucial to learn all the new things in the car. There was a lot of feedback from the engineers, so my head was full of information! We suffered with an issue at the end of the day which ended our programme slightly early. There is still some way to go for us to manage the reliability before Melbourne as this will play a huge factor in the early races, but we're hopeful that we can make another step towards achieving this next week.

Paddy Lowe
The final day of the test today saw us complete some lower fuel runs on softer tyres to get a series of one-lap simulations under our belt. We were happy with how the car responded to this programme. We then moved onto a race distance that we were able to complete, albeit with a pause in the middle for a red flag. It was pleasing to be able to complete that amount of running without any problems in the car. We attempted a further test programme at the end of the day but an issue halted that earlier than we hoped, meaning our day ended there. It's been a very positive week but we still have a lot of work to do next week to be prepared in time for Melbourne. A great job so far by the whole team trackside and back at Brackley and Brixworth.
McLaren
Team statement: The fourth and final day of the first of two Bahrain pre-season tests. Jenson was again behind the wheel for McLaren Mercedes, completing 66 laps as the team worked through a suite of set-up changes.
This week’s test enabled the team to develop and refine areas of investigation that were initiated at the Jerez test earlier this month. This week’s run data will feed into next week’s test, also in Bahrain, when the team will update and run the MP4-29 in the specification intended for the season-opener in Melbourne.
Equally importantly, the team completed more than 1600km of largely trouble-free running – an encouraging figure given the important role that reliability will likely play in the opening races

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen We have managed to improve some things compared to Jerez and we continue to understand more about the behaviour of the car. We tried various solutions to try and be as well prepared as possible for next week’s test and for the start of the season.
Hitting the barrier? I spun on the kerb at the exit of turn 4, these things can happen! Luckily, it was right at the end of the day, I’m only sorry because it means the team now has more work to do.
Williams
Felipe Nasr
I am very happy to have driven a Formula 1 car for the first time, and reaching 87 laps made it also a very productive day. There were so many things going through my head before sitting in the car. It was what I was expecting though: very different to any other car I have ever driven with the amount of downforce, brake efficiency and the power. It was a learning process for me, but I was giving feedback to the engineers all day and I think we found some good things. I'm so pleased to have had this opportunity and I am now looking forward to the next time.
Rod Nelson, Chief Test & Support Engineer
We had Felipe Nasr in the car today. He did a very good job for us. We were keen for him to get some experience of the FW36 under his belt as it's important that he gets up to speed quickly so he can help us with the development of the car. He had a very sensible measured approach so we are happy with what we have seen so far. He gives good feedback, works well with his engineers and is also quick, and so we couldn't ask for more and are also looking forward to running him at some races this season. Once again, were it not for the red flags we would have clocked up over 100 laps for the third day running, so that is a further positive. Overall, it has been a successful test covering most of our reliability work. We can now start to push on performance all the way up to Melbourne.
Lotus
Pastor Maldonado
We gained a lot more laps today and it was good for me to get time in the car. There was a lot of work with different settings, aero runs and similar which meant there was quite a lot to think about, but I think it all went well. The car was much more reliable which has helped with our work and hopefully it’s a good sign for next week.
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
Today was much better for us and we’ve been able to go through a lot of different aero assessments as well as mapping and settings work with the new drivetrain. We did have a few glitches which stopped us but these were quickly rectified. We’re still very early on in our understanding of this car and we clearly have a lot of work to do, but today has been our most productive day so far.
Force India
Sergio Perez
It’s a shame to lose the track time this afternoon, but I think we can feel quite positive about what we have learned this week. Every lap in the car gives us more information and we are always trying something new. I was not able to do the long runs we planned this afternoon so it’s important to do those next week. We also need to start pushing the performance and set-up work, which is not really an area we have focussed on that much yet.

Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer:
Although we didn’t cover a large number of laps today, we were able to complete some aero work this morning and evaluate some more set-up items. The programme was cut short by a drivetrain issue just before lunch, which confined us to the garage for the rest of the afternoon. With the amount of work involved in resolving the problem and the lack of time available, we decided it was better to regroup and put our efforts into achieving our objectives next week
Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo
In all honesty it wasn't a great day today, I guess we still need more time. We have four more days coming up and hopefully we can maximise those. I have to say that on the run we did today the car did feel better. But unfortunately another problem arose and we couldn't exploit that potential. I hope we can do more running next week. I'm happy I'm doing the first two days. At this stage we just need laps and I'm just hanging to get back in the car.

Race Engineering Co-ordinator Andy Damerum
This morning we felt like we were in good shape. We had everything completed ahead of schedule and got out in good time. However, on Daniel's install we noticed a software problem and that knocked us back for the morning. We got out again around lunchtime and put in a 10-lap run but we had to abort that as we had another mechanical issue. We brought Daniel back in and discovered some damage on the car, which following investigation was worse than we imagined. The guys worked really hard to get everything fixed and we were hopeful of getting out at the end of the day, even if just for an install.
In the end, though, I don't think it would have been possible as a couple of late red flags ended running for everyone. It's been a difficult week:
we've made some very good progress, particular on day two, but we've also had a number of problems that have again held us back. The engineering team will head back to Milton Keynes now to plan the next moves and we can only look forward and try to get everything in place for T-03 here next week.
Toro Rosso
Jean-Eric Vergne
There’s no point in making negative comments, because everyone knows we are facing major problems and we are not alone in that. We knew when we came to Bahrain that there had not been enough time since the previous test to have solved all our issues. On the positive side, we have managed to fix some of them now. Also, even if I have not done so many laps, it’s clear from those I have managed to complete, that Toro Rosso has done a good job to give me a car that feels nice to drive, if we talk about the elements that used to be the main topics before this year, such as the aero and mechanical side of the package. It’s frustrating, but we need to keep calm and not get stressed as there are still a few weeks before Melbourne. We will try again here in Bahrain starting on Thursday. Clearly, in Melbourne, just finishing the race will mean you have a good chance of scoring points.
Caterham
Marcus Ericsson
It's clearly not ideal that I couldn't run more today, but overall I'm pretty happy with how the first Bahrain test has ended. I did nearly 100 laps yesterday and that was really important, giving me time in the car to get used to the systems and start working properly on the tyres. We have a few days now to prepare for the third test and I can't wait to get back in the car.
Kamui Kobayashi
The team worked very hard to fix the electrical issue that cut my teammate's run short this morning and it was good to get out for the last hour. Obviously we couldn't get too much done in the time left, but we tried a couple of things that we'll look at tonight and be back for the final test next week when we want to step up the performance levels before we head to Australia.

Jody Egginton, Caterham F1 Team Deputy Technical Director
Overall this has been a positive test for us and Renault who have made good progress from where we were in Jerez. The multiple red flags throughout the four days hurt us and all the teams but we've run more laps than any of the other Renault powered cars and have made substantial progress on understanding how to operate the 2014 package, as well as completing significant long run mileage that has given us a lot of useful data on the car, power unit and the 2014 tyres. It's obviously disappointing that we had limited running today due to an electrical issue with the Power Unit but we worked hard throughout the day to rectify that problem with Renault and add more mileage for the last hour, so it wasn't a wasted day by any means.
Pace-wise, Kamui's time on day two was the first time we started really pushing overall performance and we know there is a lot more to come, from the Power Unit and the car in general, so we have plenty of reasons to be positive ahead of the final test here in Bahrain. Now we have a short break before T03 but the work continues, here in Bahrain and back at Leafield and we're looking forward to another successful final test here starting on Thursday.
Cedrik Staudohar, Track Support Leader, Renault Sport F1:
We can be reasonably pleased with how the first Bahrain test has gone for us and Caterham F1 Team. An enormous effort has been made by everyone at Viry and here on track to rectify the problems we encountered in Jerez and the mileage Caterham has been able to accumulate here shows we have made significant progress. Although the electrical issue today cost us some track time overall we have a lot more information about the electrical system, which we will build on in the next test. For the third test we will be increasing the Power Unit performance levels and are confident that with the improved reliability we have seen over the last four days we will be able to achieve the targets we have set for us and the team before we go to Melbourne.
Marussia
Team statement: On day four of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit, we experienced a continuation of some component reliability issues. Since the first time these were encountered earlier this week, the team back at the Marussia Technical Centre have been working on revised components in order to resolve the problems. These arrived in Bahrain this morning and instead of pursuing running with the original parts, the trackside team opted to deviate from the planned programme in order to fit and shake down the new components before the end of the day’s running.
After a huge effort to prepare the car, we were able to return Jules to the track for the final 10 minutes of the session, but he completed only one lap before the session was red-flagged when Raikkonen crashed. The session was not restarted. Nonetheless, the expectation is that the new components will provide a better basis for next week’s test here at the Bahrain International Circuit

Sauber
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering
We have learned a lot in the past four days. We were able to explore the different tyre compounds, complete aero tests, do qualifying and race simulation, just to name a few things. Of course it was frustrating to lose out on so much time today. We discovered a problem with an internal part of the monocoque, which is why we had to change the chassis. We have identified the problem and reinforced the new chassis for today. We put the necessary improvements in place and are confident that this will not happen again. The team worked incredibly hard to put the car back on track. But that’s what testing is for, and we are glad the issue came up now and not in Melbourne. Over the next few days we will be analysing a lot of data and start preparations for the final pre-season test next week.
Adrian Sutil
It was a disappointing day. We lost valuable time on track, even though the pit crew did an incredible job to have the car back together in the afternoon. These things happen when you are testing, and we learn from this. Now we will focus on getting the most out the four days we have left.

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Post by Ed » Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:55 pm

First day of the final test in Bahrain gets underway. Drivers taking part today are:

Ricciardo - Red Bull
Rosberg - Mercedes
Raikkonen - Ferrari
Maldonado - Lotus
Magnussen - McLaren
Perez - Force India
Sutil - Sauber
Kvyat - Toro Rosso
Bottas - Williams
Chilton - Marussia
Kobayashi - Caterham

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Post by Ed » Thu Feb 27, 2014 9:13 pm

Best laptimes at lunch:

Perez Force India 1:35.290
Rosberg Mercedes 1:36.624
Magnussen McLaren 1:37.825
Sutil Sauber 1:37.892
Ricciaro Red Bull 1:37.908
Bottas Williams 1:38.907
Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:39.242
Raikkonen Ferrari 1:40.505
Maldonado Lotus 1:40.599
Chilton Marussia 1:41.073
Kobayashi Caterham 1:44.060

There have been 2 red flags so far, Kobayashi's Caterham and Maldonado's Lotus stopped on the track. So far Red Bull are going reasonably well

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Post by Ed » Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:51 pm

With under an hour remaining in the session today, these are the best laptimes so far:

Perez Force India 1:35.290
Rosberg Mercedes 1:36.624
Raikkonen Ferrari 1:37.287
Sutil Sauber 1:37.700
Magnussen McLaren 1:37.825
Ricciardo Red Bull 1:37.908
Chilton Marussia 1:38.610
Bottas Williams 1:38.907
Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:39.242
Maldonado Lotus 1:40.599
Kobayashi Caterham 1:42.285

A further red flag halted the session when Kvyat stopped in the Toro Rosso

Following a good start early in the session, both Lotus and Red Bull have hit trouble. Maldonado has completed 31 laps while Ricciardo has completed 32. Kobayashi in the Caterham has managed the least laps of all with just 17. Kvyat in the Toro Rosso has completed the most laps so far for a Renault powered team with 56. Bottas in the Williams (Mercedes powered) has completed the most laps so far with 111

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 28, 2014 1:13 am

Best laptimes and laps at the end of the first day of the final test in Bahrain

Driver Team Best Laptime Laps
Perez Force India 1:35.290 105
Bottas Williams 1:36.184 128
Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.432 54
Rosberg Mercedes 1:36.624 89
Sutil Sauber 1:37.700 89
Magnussen McLaren 1:37.825 109
Ricciardo Red Bull 1:37.908 39
Chilton Marussia 1:38.610 44
Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:39.242 56
Maldonado Lotus 1:40.599 31
Kobayashi Caterham 1:42.285 19

Two minutes prior to the end of the session, Kimi Raikkonen stopped on the track causing the fourth red flag of the day

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:52 am

Selected quotes from day 1 of the final test in Bahrain

Sergio Perez - Force India
We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it. We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it's been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car. Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.
Valtteri Bottas - Williams
It's been another good day for us. It was nice to get the whole run plan done. We didn't have any issues all day so well done to all the team for getting the car running so well. We have a lot of data to analyse tonight after doing some aero work this morning and a race distance and set-up work this afternoon. We did some very interesting tests and there are still plenty of things to improve so we'll keep pushing.
Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
We had a small problem today, which limited the number of laps but still managed to learn some new things about the car. You always want to do better, but every team has unexpected things happen and we are still trying to do all we can to be ready for Melbourne. During the race weekends there will be little time to try different things in terms of set-up, so it was important today to keep on this track to find out what’s the best direction to go in.
On the final day of the test, we will put everything together that we have learned so far and will concentrate on the conditions we will encounter in the race.
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
That was not a fantastic day for us. We tried some new parts on the car and you find out a lot through doing that. But unfortunately we did not only discover good things today. I managed to do a couple of good laps before lunch but in the afternoon we had a few small problems which ended my running a bit earlier than planned. This shows that we are pushing everything to the limit and we still have a massive challenge in front of us during the last three days of testing. We need to maximise our time here to be prepared for Melbourne. But after a difficult day overall we are on the right path.
Adrian Sutil - Sauber
We did a lot of mileage today. However, we have to work on our performance. We still had a few issues. Nevertheless, we were able to do qualifying runs and almost a complete race simulation. We have collected a lot of valuable information, and we know we still have to make further progress. Also I was able to gain experience on all dry tyre compounds. Generally they are all a bit harder than last year, but I have no concern about them as they should last well over the race distance.
McLaren statement:
For the final test of the pre-season, our drivers will spend alternate days in the cockpit of MP4-29, providing them with equal opportunity to sample the new components that will be fitted to the car for the last two days of the test.
Consequently, Kevin Magnussen drives Thursday and Saturday, with Jenson driving Friday and Sunday.
Without any new parts to evaluate, the first two days of running will focus on mileage and reliability: Kevin spent the morning in Bahrain undertaking a series of short, set-up runs. After the lunchbreak, he completed a full-race distance, and fitted in some further set-up work.
The engineers also took the opportunity to run through a series of prove-outs, testing the car while running it on the pitlane speed-limiter, and doing practice starts

Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull
The morning was much better for us with a few longer runs, behind the wheel, that’s the best I’ve felt so far. The package seems to be coming together better. We still had a few issues today, but at least when the car was on track it was much more useful running and we made progress in the morning. It’s getting there. I’d love to keep going, but at least Seb has two days after me in the car, so I think we’ll be looking pretty good for the next three days.
Max Chilton - Marussia
It’s great to finally achieve some reasonable mileage and also to have some consistency to our running once again. At this stage, there is still so much to learn about the car, so the information we have gathered is really important for the engineers. We have also had some positive signs in terms of reliability today, so all in all, I’m quite positive and we have a good basis now for the rest of the week. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the work we are doing over the next couple of days and I look forward to being back in the car on Sunday.
Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso
It was nice to be in the car, even if we didn’t get through the entire programme we had planned for today. However, I feel we have made some progress. We ran the Hard Pirelli most of the time, as we were definitely not chasing performance today. I hope Jev manages to get a full day’s running tomorrow, before I drive again on Saturday.
Pastor Maldonado - Lotus
For sure it wasn’t what we wanted today, but we are all working very hard to make progress and I’m sure we’ll have solutions quite soon as a team, and it’s clear we have good potential and the car is not bad. We have had some problems but we are fixing them and we are making improvements with electronics and software every day we run.
Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham
19 laps on the first day of the final test isn't how we wanted to start these final four days of testing, but when each problem surfaces the whole team is working very hard to fix them. This morning we had an electrical problem, not related to the engine, that meant I had to stop on track. It was a lot less dramatic than it looked, but when there's smoke coming from the car it's obviously not good so we got the car back and had it fixed and cleaned up again by lunchtime.
In the afternoon we were back out first, but found a series of power unit related software problems kept meaning we had to come back to the garage earlier than planned. I know how determined Renault are to fix these and I have another day in the car on Saturday to add to the good number of laps we ran in the first Bahrain test. Hopefully tomorrow Marcus will be able to do a similar number of laps to the 98 he ran last week and everyone's working harder than ever to make sure we leave Bahrain in a good position.

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 28, 2014 5:31 pm

Second day of testing in Bahrain gets underway. Drivers taking part today are:

Ricciardo - Red Bull
Hamilton - Mercedes
Alonso - Ferrari
Maldonado - Lotus
Button - McLaren
Perez - Force India
Gutierrez - Sauber
Massa - Williams
Vergne - Toro Rosso
Bianchi - Marussia
Ericsson - Caterham

There has been already a red flag when Hamilton's Mercedes stopped on the track.

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Post by Ed » Fri Feb 28, 2014 5:36 pm

With just 3 days remaining, the teams are trying their best to cover as much running time as possible.

So far the best laptimes are:

Perez Force India 1:36.440
Button McLaren 1:36.901
Alonso Ferrari 1:36.992
Bianchi Marussia 1:39.488
Hamilton Mercedes 1:40.503
Vergne Toro Rosso 1:42.138
Ericsson Caterham 1:42.516

No laptimes yet from Red Bull, Lotus, Sauber and Williams

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Post by Ed » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:16 am

Best laptimes from Bahrain with less than an hour remaining:

Perez Force India 1:35.570
Alonso Ferrari 1:35.634
Ricciardo Red Bull 1:35.743
Button McLaren 1:36.901
Bianchi Marussia 1:38.198
Hamilton Mercedes 1:39.041
Massa Williams 1:39.323
Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.636
Gutierrez Sauber 1:39.976
Maldonado Lotus 1:41.613
Ericsson Caterham 1:42.516

3 more red flags interuppted the session. First it was Button in the McLaren then Maldonado in the Lotus and finally Ericsson in the Caterham.

Today things haven't been going so well for Mercedes and McLaren with both teams suffering problems. Lotus is still struggling
In term of laptimes things are looking better for Red Bull although they are still not doing enough laps

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Post by Ed » Sat Mar 01, 2014 1:24 am

Best laptimes at the end of day 2 from the final test in Bahrain:

Driver Team Best Lap Total laps
Perez Force India 1:35.570 108
Alonso Ferrari 1:35.634 122
Ricciardo Red Bull 1:35.743 66
Massa Williams 1:36.507 103
Button McLaren 1:36.901 52
Bianchi Marussia 1:38.092 75
Hamilton Mercedes 1:39.041 89
Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.636 61
Gutierrez Sauber 1:39.976 106
Maldonado Lotus 1:41.613 31
Ericsson Caterham 1:42.516 55

With the exception of Lotus all of the teams managed more that 50 laps today. Red Bull did the most number of laps for a Renault powered team with 66 laps while Ferrari covered almost double that with 122 laps.

Testing continues tomorrow

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Post by Ed » Sat Mar 01, 2014 11:16 am

Selected quotes from the second day of testing in Bahrain:

Perez - Force India
It feels very good to have another full day and to do so many laps. It’s my last time in the car until we arrive in Melbourne and I’m feeling positive about how things are going. The set-up work today was very useful because we tried some different things to have a better direction for the first race. Everything went to plan and we managed to complete all the long runs in the afternoon.
Alonso - Ferrari
Six hundred kilometres are always welcome, but it’s still too early to say we are a hundred percent ready for Melbourne. We still have a lot to learn, but I am happy with the way the day went. In the morning, we did some set-up work which taught us what was the best direction to go in, while in the afternoon, we managed to complete a race simulation and every lap we did can be added to the learning phase, which is the normal situation to be in during winter testing. On the performance front, it’s still difficult to have a clear idea of what our rivals are up to and I think we will only find that out in Australia.
Ricciardo - Red Bull
It went a lot better today, this morning it was important to have the race crew here to do the pit stops, as they haven’t had the chance to get to grips with the car yet, so we didn’t do that many laps in the morning. However, in the afternoon we did some good stuff. We had a go on the soft tyre, which was nice, to see how the car responds with a bit more grip. We also did one long run at the end, which was very important, just to see how the car is behaving with the tyres. A big improvement everywhere over yesterday and a much more optimistic outlook now I think. We still have a lot to learn and understand, but we’re making progress and the past two days have been a big step in the right direction.
Massa - Williams
I think it was another important day for us. We are starting to understand the car a lot more. It was really my first full day driving, after only getting half a day last week, so I'm still looking forward to understanding more tomorrow and doing everything we can do to be as prepared as possible for the first race. I am happy with how we are working as a team and tomorrow will be another important day.
Button - McLaren
We had a problem within the gearbox – it took a while to change, as anything within the power-unit does these days – but we got back out at the end, and everything ran smoothly, which was good. It was a shame to lose that time – it’s the first major issue we’ve had this winter; but it’s better to suffer it here, rather than at a race weekend.
We were still able to do a long-run on high-fuel this afternoon. The basic car is good, and there’s a great deal of potential there, but there’s still a lot of work to do. We have a good understanding of the power-unit, and we know how to race it, but, in terms of balance and grip, the car isn’t quite there yet.
But I know we’ve got some good improvements in the pipeline – and they should help us close the gap to the front of the grid.
Bianchi - Marussia
I am really happy with what we have achieved today. The car feels good and we have had the reliability to really build our mileage. We would have liked to have some more laps for sure, but we were able to enjoy some good runs and get a really good feeling for the car in high and low fuel conditions. I am looking forward to my second day of running tomorrow and I hope we can continue the good work of the last two days. I would like to thank the Team and our partners Scuderia Ferrari for all the hard work, which is now starting to show on the track.
Hamilton - Mercedes
Like every team, we're encountering problems every day and we've still got some work to do in terms of both reliability and speed. There are no specific problem areas, just lots of different things we need to improve. It's important to get as much mileage under our belts as we can and just as important to discover any problems before we get to Melbourne. It might be frustrating at times but finding them at this stage is actually a positive. We really don't know where anyone stands right now and we have enough to concentrate on without looking at how other teams are getting on. The focus is on ourselves and will continue to be right up to the first race. Today was a fairly average day but I've got one more to go before we get to Melbourne, so hopefully that will be a bit more productive.
Vergne - Toro Rosso
We completed a good number of laps today without any major problems, so it shows we are getting there. There is still a lot to do, but we can say we have made some steps forward and we must continue to do as much mileage as possible in the two days that are left. I will be back in the car on Sunday here, when I hope we will be in a position to do a qualifying and race simulation.
Gutierrez - Sauber
The mileage we covered today was great, and these were the most laps in one day for the team so far. From a reliability point of view, I think we are doing well so far. After some aero work this morning I was able to get into the long runs and race simulation. I also managed to get a feeling for different settings, including fuel saving, and that worked quite well. The pit crew and the engineers are working incredibly hard, and together we were able to get used to race weekend procedures.
Maldonado - Lotus
It was a tough day for us with the fire. We need to keep working and for sure it’s not an ideal situation for the team, or for me but we need to keep focus, work together and I hope for the future we can be better. Today was my last day of pre-season testing so it will be very interesting when we get to Australia.
Ericsson - Caterham
My first day of the final test in the car and it obviously didn't end as we wanted it to, but we did achieve quite a lot of the plan we'd set for the day. We'd had a stop/start morning but the afternoon session was going well until a technical problem just after I exited the pits after the first stint of a race simulation started a fire which forced me to stop the car on track. We'd started after lunch with a few runs evaluating setup options and then went onto the full race simulation which was going to plan until just after the first pitstop when the problem started and I had to pull over. However, we had been able to run through a lot of the procedures we'd planned for today, including race starts and launches, so I'm pleased we've ticked them off.
The fire itself was out pretty quickly and the boys now have a lot of work ahead of them to find out what happened and get it all fixed for tomorrow. I'd like to have had some more laps today, but we still have another day left and with every lap I'm learning, so I'm still as positive as I was when we arrived here and just want to get back in the car and back to work.

Ed
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Post by Ed » Sat Mar 01, 2014 6:43 pm

Day 3 of the final F1 pre-season test in Bahrain gets underway. The drivers taking part today are:

Vettel - Red Bull
Rosberg - Mercedes
Raikkonen - Ferrari
Grosjean - Lotus
Magnussen - McLaren
Hulkenberg - Force India
Sutil - Sauber
Kvyat - Toro Rosso
Massa - Williams
Bianchi - Marussia
Kobayashi - Caterham

Merecedes is starting late today due to a precautionary engine change while Lotus and Red Bull didn't go out in the first hour

Ed
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Post by Ed » Sat Mar 01, 2014 6:50 pm

After nearly 2 and a half hours since the session started, Vettel appeared on the track for an installation lap and stopped on the track causing the first red flag of the session. Looks like another disappointing start for Red Bull. Still no sign of the Lotus

Ed
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Post by Ed » Sat Mar 01, 2014 6:55 pm

Grosjean makes it out on the track for Lotus and completes the installation lap.

Top times so far:

Massa Williams 1m37.224
Hulkenberg Force India 1:38.845
Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:39.297
Magnussen McLaren 1:40.252
Raikkonen Ferrari 1:41.542
Ericsson Caterham 1:41.849
Bianchi Marussia 1:43.181

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