Posted on by Steve Murray Sports

Formula One: 2014 Bahrain Test Two Recap

Unlike most seasons that see the Circuit de Catalunya hosting a pair of tests, this year, the Formula One circus makes a pair of appearances in Bahrain on successive weeks to dial cars in for the season. Even though the two Bahrain tests were only a week apart, teams brought out some new parts and other improvements to tune up for an Australian Grand Prix that’s only two weeks after the conclusion of this test.

Day 1 (February 27)

In news that should surprise no one, it was a car with a Mercedes engine that led the way on the first day of the Bahrain test. Sergio Perez matched Force India teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s feat of setting the fastest time of a testing day. The only car within a second was Vatteri Bottas who completed over two race distances in the Williams. Kimi Raikkonen made sure that you can’t count Ferrari out by getting the third best time.

Renault cars continued to struggle with Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull being the fastest in 7th. The four Renault-powered cars occupied spots in the bottom five on this day. None completed a full race distance. Only five drivers completed 59 lap or more- Perez (105 laps), Bottas (128), Rosberg (89), Sutil (89) and Magnussen (109).

  1. Sergio Perez – Force India-Mercedes – 1:35.290
  2. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Mercedes – 1:36.184
  3. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1:36.432
  4. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:36.624
  5. Adrian Sutil – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:37.700
  6. Kevin Magnussen – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:37.825
  7. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull-Renault – 1:37.908
  8. Max Chilton – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:38.610
  9. Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:39.242
  10. Pastor Maldonado – Lotus-Renault – 1:40.599
  11. Kamui Kobayashi – Caterham-Renault – 1:42.285

Day 2 (February 28)

This was a big statement day for many drivers and teams. Perez topped the timesheets for the second straight day which made him the first driver to do so. Fernando Alonso put his Ferrari less than seven-hundredths of a second off the top pace while completing over 120 laps. Daniel Ricciardo showed that Red Bull wasn’t done yet with the third-fastest time (0.173s behind) and by completing 66 laps.

Felipe Massa’s 4th place came ahead of current frontrunners McLaren and Mercedes. The biggest surprise of the day may have been Jules Bianchi whose Marussia was 6th fastest while completing the 6th most laps on the day (75 laps).

  1. Sergio Perez – Force India-Mercedes – 1:35.570
  2. Fernando Alonso – Ferrari – 1:35.634
  3. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull-Renault – 1:35.743
  4. Felipe Massa – Williams-Mercedes – 1:36.507
  5. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:36.901
  6. Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:38.092
  7. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:39.041
  8. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:39.636
  9. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:39.976
  10. Pastor Maldonado – Lotus-Renault – 1:41.613
  11. Marcus Ericsson – Caterham-Renault – 1:42.516

Day 3 (March 1)

f1-2014-bahrain-test-two-massa-force-indiaAfter the previous day’s good running, Vettel didn’t even get past Turn 4 before it ground to a halt and he didn’t complete a lap the whole day. He wasn’t the only one with major reliability issues. Adrian Sutil didn’t complete a lap and Romain Grosjean completed only 33. Those were the only three cars that didn’t complete more than a race distance’s worth of laps.

Felipe Massa was the fastest on the third day of testing which also was the fastest time in seven days of testing in Bahrain. Nico Rosberg was just behind in 2nd. The fastest Renault was Daniil Kvyat in 5th but he was almost three seconds off the pace. Still much work to be done there.

  1. Felipe Massa – Williams-Mercedes – 1:33.258
  2. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:33.484
  3. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1:35.894
  4. Kevin Magnussen – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:35.894
  5. Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:36.113
  6. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India-Mercedes – 1:36.205
  7. Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:37.087
  8. Marcus Ericsson – Caterham-Renault – 1:38.083
  9. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – 1:42.166
  10. Adrian Sutil – Sauber-Ferrari – No Time
  11. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – No Time

Day 4 (March 2)

f1-2014-bahrain-test-two-hamilton-force-indiaThe final day of the test saw Mercedes on top once again with Williams just behind. It seems as though that the more things change in Formula One, the more they stay the same. After this rules change, it’s Williams, Mercedes, Ferrari and the former Jordan at the head of the field. If McLaren gets up front, the clock will basically have turned back ten years to 2004.

  1. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:33.278
  2. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Mercedes – 1:33.987
  3. Fernando Alonso – Ferrari – 1:34.280
  4. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India-Mercedes – 1:35.577
  5. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:35.701
  6. Adrian Sutil – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:36.467
  7. Max Chilton – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:36.835
  8. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:37.303
  9. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – 1:37.468
  10. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:38.111
  11. Kamui Kobayashi – Caterham-Renault – 1:38.391
  12. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – 1:39.302

The top two teams of this test had been at the top of the timesheets for the whole of the pre-season. I don’t think that anyone would have predicted that Williams would have been at the head of the field this season after their 2013 challenger barely scored points. Maybe it’s the drivers. Williams dropped Maldonado and signed Felipe Massa which clearly improved the team’s karma enough to put them at the head of the field.

Seriously, though, Williams has been quite impressive this pre-season. We expected Mercedes and Ferrari to be at the head of the class but not the FW36 and Force India. McLaren’s early advantage seems to have disappeared and Red Bull still haven’t recovered from their poor Jerez test. At least we might see Marussia score their first points this season. A little luck might get them to the point this year.

Best Times of the Test

  1. Felipe Massa – Williams-Mercedes – 1:33.258
  2. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:33.278
  3. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:33.484
  4. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Mercedes – 1:33.987
  5. Fernando Alonso – Ferrari – 1:34.290
  6. Sergio Perez – Force India-Mercedes – 1:35.290
  7. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1:35.426
  8. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India-Mercedes – 1:35.577
  9. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:35.701
  10. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull-Renault – 1:35.743
  11. Kevin Magnussen – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:35.894
  12. Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:36.113
  13. Adrian Sutil – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:36.467
  14. Max Chilton – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:36.835
  15. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:36.901
  16. Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:37.087
  17. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:37.303
  18. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – 1:37.468
  19. Marcus Ericsson – Caterham-Renault – 1:38.083
  20. Kamui Kobayashi – Caterham-Renault – 1:38.391
  21. Romain Grosjeam – Lotus-Renault – 1:39.302
  22. Pastor Maldonado – Lotus-Renault – 1:40.599

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