Formula One: 2014 Barcelona In-Season Test Recap

While the first five races of the season have gone exactly as planned for those who paid attention to the pre-season testing, that doesn’t mean that testing follows the same script. With Mercedes testing the new “megaphone” exhaust and the other teams on various testing programs, there were a couple of unexpected drivers and teams topping the time sheets during the second in-season test of 2014.

Day 1 (May 13)

The first day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona started wet and ended wet which through everyone’s programs out the window. Coming out on top was the upset fastest driver of the day, Max Chilton in his Marussia. Sure, M4x wouldn’t have been up there if he wasn’t on super-softs and the conditions messed things up but seeing your car on top has to be a massive morale boost for Marussia. Sometimes, feeling good can make you perform better.

Because of the weather, some drivers had some problems. Kimi Raikkonen spun and needed his floor replaced as a result. That was still better than Kamui Kobayashi’s day. He put the car in the wall and Caterham didn’t get the car repaired in time for the second day of testing.

Max Chilton – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:26.434
Charles Pic – Lotus-Renault – 1:26.661
Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – 1:26.674
Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1:26.965
Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:27.724
Nico Hulkenberg – Force India-Mercedes – 1:27.727
Felipe Massa – Williams-Mercedes – 1:27.756
Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:28.333
Kamui Kobayashi – Caterham-Renault – 1:30.101
Sebastien Buemi – Red Bull-Renault – 1:31.440
Giedo van der Garde – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:31.783

Day 2 (May 14)

The second day of the test saw the debuts of three drivers that made their maiden runs in Formula One. Spanish driver Daniel Juncadella got his first testing action in while serving as Force India’s reserve driver. Belgian GP2 driver Stoffel Vandoorne got his first taste of F1 action and did so by logging more laps than anyone else. The story was Susie Wolff who got her first F1 run for Williams and was the fastest of the new drivers on the day.

However, the real story was Pastor Maldonado who managed to accomplish two major feats by his standards. He 1) Didn’t crash into anyone or the wall; and 2) Was fastest on the day which means that Renault might not be completely toast for the whole season.

Pastor Maldonado – Lotus-Renault – 1:24.871
Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – 1:25.805
Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari – 1:26.480
Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – 1:26.972
Susie Wolff – Williams-Mercedes – 1:27.280
Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Ferrari – 1:27.718
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – 1:27.973
Daniel Juncadella – Force India-Mercedes – 1:28.278
Stoffel Vandoorne – McLaren-Mercedes – 1:28.441
Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso-Renault – 1:28.910

I should note that Mercedes ran the so-called “megaphone” exhaust on the second day of testing. In addition to looking ridiculously comical, Rosberg reported that it made little noticeable change to the loudness of the cars. It looks like it’s back to the drawing boards for a solution for the noise levels of the cars. I’d suggest better microphone work to compensate for the quieter engines.