Day 3 - Hamilton Fastest for Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest lap of the week as he sent Mercedes to the top of the timesheets on the third day of pre-season testing at Sakhir.
The 2008 world champion leapt to the head of the field during Friday’s morning session, with McLaren’s Jenson Button the only driver to come close to matching Hamilton’s furious pace.
“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,” said a pleased Hamilton.
“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 teams 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.”
Unofficial Friday test times from Bahrain
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m34.263s, 67 laps
2. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m34.976s, 103 laps
3. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1m37.066s, 60 laps
4. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1m37.180s, 96 laps
5. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1m37.367s, 57 laps
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m37.476s, 44 laps
7. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1m38.974s, 57 laps
8. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m39.642s, 26 laps
9. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m40.781s, 28 laps
10. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham, 1m42.130s, 98 laps
11. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1m46.672s, 4 laps
12. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, no time, 55 laps
Day 4 - Rapid Rosberg keeps Mercedes ahead on final day
The second of 2014’s three pre-season tests drew to a close in Bahrain on Saturday, with Mercedes leading the way by a clear margin. Nico Rosberg’s best lap of 1m 33.283 was over 1.5s quicker than that of nearest rival, McLaren’s Jenson Button, and a second faster than team mate Lewis Hamilton’s P1 time from Friday.
“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,” said Rosberg, whose best time was the fastest of the week. “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!”
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third in the time-sheets after a program of set-up work and practice starts, despite a late crash which brought the day’s running to an end five minutes early.
“We have managed to improve some things compared to Jerez and we continue to understand more about the behaviour of the car,” Raikkonen told Ferrari’s website. “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.”
Unofficial Saturday test times from Bahrain
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 33.283s, 89 laps
2. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 34.957s, 66 laps
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 36.718s, 82 laps
4. Felipe Nasr, Williams, 1m 37.569s, 87 laps
5. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 38.707s, 59 laps
6. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1m 39.258s, 19 laps
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 39.837s, 15 laps
8. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1m 40.472s, 19 laps
9. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham, 1m 43.027s, 17 laps
10. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham, 1m 45.094s, 4 laps
11. Adrian Sutil, Sauber, no time, 7 laps
12. Jules Bianchi, Marussia, no time, 5 laps
Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest lap of the week as he sent Mercedes to the top of the timesheets on the third day of pre-season testing at Sakhir.
The 2008 world champion leapt to the head of the field during Friday’s morning session, with McLaren’s Jenson Button the only driver to come close to matching Hamilton’s furious pace.
“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,” said a pleased Hamilton.
“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 teams 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.”
Unofficial Friday test times from Bahrain
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m34.263s, 67 laps
2. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m34.976s, 103 laps
3. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1m37.066s, 60 laps
4. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1m37.180s, 96 laps
5. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1m37.367s, 57 laps
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m37.476s, 44 laps
7. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1m38.974s, 57 laps
8. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m39.642s, 26 laps
9. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m40.781s, 28 laps
10. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham, 1m42.130s, 98 laps
11. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1m46.672s, 4 laps
12. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, no time, 55 laps
Day 4 - Rapid Rosberg keeps Mercedes ahead on final day
The second of 2014’s three pre-season tests drew to a close in Bahrain on Saturday, with Mercedes leading the way by a clear margin. Nico Rosberg’s best lap of 1m 33.283 was over 1.5s quicker than that of nearest rival, McLaren’s Jenson Button, and a second faster than team mate Lewis Hamilton’s P1 time from Friday.
“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,” said Rosberg, whose best time was the fastest of the week. “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!”
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third in the time-sheets after a program of set-up work and practice starts, despite a late crash which brought the day’s running to an end five minutes early.
“We have managed to improve some things compared to Jerez and we continue to understand more about the behaviour of the car,” Raikkonen told Ferrari’s website. “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.”
Unofficial Saturday test times from Bahrain
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 33.283s, 89 laps
2. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 34.957s, 66 laps
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 36.718s, 82 laps
4. Felipe Nasr, Williams, 1m 37.569s, 87 laps
5. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 38.707s, 59 laps
6. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1m 39.258s, 19 laps
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 39.837s, 15 laps
8. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1m 40.472s, 19 laps
9. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham, 1m 43.027s, 17 laps
10. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham, 1m 45.094s, 4 laps
11. Adrian Sutil, Sauber, no time, 7 laps
12. Jules Bianchi, Marussia, no time, 5 laps
The Second Bahrain pre-season test at the Sakir circuit starts on Thursday 27th February.
Watch this space for more info
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