As part of the changes to all of the technical regulations, the 2014 Formula One World Championship season included a rules change that allows four two-day in-season test sessions for teams to work on their cars and gather data about new parts and Pirelli tyres.

The first of these test sessions was in Bahrain following last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. If you include the pre-season testing, that makes 13 days out of 23 (12 days of pre-season testing, 9 days of race weekends and 2 days of this test) of official running that has been held on this one track. So it should surprise anyone that Mercedes was still at the head of the field after this test.

Day 1 (April 8)

Just because you’ve gone testing doesn’t mean that the results of the test are going to be any different. Nico Rosberg went fastest for Mercedes in news that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Apart from Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari, the four Mercedes-powered teams were in the top five spots on the timesheet.

The interesting news of the day was that Sergey Sirotkin, the 18-year-old Russian driver signed by Sauber when they picked up significant Russian backing for the team, did his first official test for the team. He actually completed the required 300 km of running to qualify for an FIA Superlicence. Whether the FIA actually awards it to him is another matter.

1. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:35.697
2. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India-Mercedes – 1:36.064
3. Fernando Alonso – Ferrari – 1:36.626
4. Kevin Magnussen – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:36.634
5. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Mercedes – 1:37.305
6. Max Chilton – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:37.678
7. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull-Renault – 1:38.326
8. Sergey Sirotkin – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:39.023
9. Robin Frijns – Caterham-Renault – 1:40.027
10. Pastor Maldonado – Lotus-Renault – 1:40.183
11. Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:40.562

Day 2 (April 9)

The second day of the test saw the other Mercedes car take the top spot. While Nico Rosberg topped Day One by four-tenths of a second, Lewis Hamilton led the way by nearly a second-and-a-half. Mercedes is just stupidly dominant at this early stage of the season.

This day of running had a few more problems than the first with Toro Rosso and McLaren having some issues. Fernando Alonso’s F14T had some chassis damage that forced the team to conclude running after only a dozen laps. It’s hard to look like a credible threat when you can’t get any running in. Right, Lotus?

1. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:34.136
2. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:35.557
3. Kevin Magnussen – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:36.203
4. Sergio Perez – Force India-Mercedes – 1:36.586
5. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull-Renault – 1:37.310
6. Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:37.316
7. Giedo van der Garde – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:37.623
8. Fernando Alonso – Ferrari – 1:37.912
9. Marcus Ericsson – Caterham-Renault – 1:39.263
10. Felipe Nasr – Williams-Mercedes – 1:39.879
11. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – 1:43.732

I do wonder if some of the drivers and teams took this test seriously. Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa weren’t in attendance. Neither of the Sauber were there and McLaren was originally scheduled to run their test drivers instead of Kevin Magnussen.

It’s early enough into the season that the teams likely haven’t come up with significant enough developments to warrant a full-on test of them. However, if I was running a Formula One team and I was trying to pull the team up the grid, I would certainly want my race drivers helping to develop the car.

Granted, most of the required development work at this point is probably in the engine and ERS departments. Ferrari and Renault need to catch up there but can’t because the rules have frozen engine development for the season. If you’re McLaren, it sure seems like running to Honda is a smarter move than going to the alternatives. At least Honda has a target to achieve rather than playing catch up.

Best Times of the Test

1. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:34.136
2. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:35.557
3. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:35.697
4. Nico Hulkenberg – Force India-Mercedes – 1:36.064
5. Kevin Magnussen – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:36.203
6. Sergio Perez – Force India-Mercedes – 1:36.586
7. Fernando Alonso – Ferrari – 1:36.626
8. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Mercedes – 1:37.305
9. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull-Renault – 1:37.310
10. Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:37.316
11. Giedo van der Garde – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:37.623
12. Max Chilton – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:37.678
13. Sergey Sirotkin – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:39.023
14. Marcus Ericsson – Caterham-Renault – 1:39.263
15. Felipe Nasr – Williams-Renault – 1:39.879
16. Robin Frijns – Caterham-Renault – 1:40.027
17. Pastor Maldonado – Lotus-Renault – 1:40.183
18. Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:40.452
19. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – 1:43.732