22/02/2014
NEWS STORY
It was another strong day in Bahrain for Mercedes while Red Bull and its sister team Toro Rosso continue to hurt, as do Sauber and Marussia.
Mercedes powered teams filled three of the top four spots at the top of the timesheets, Ferrari once again the only team to give the German power unit manufacturer a run for its money. That said, a crash late in the session for Kimi Raikkonen, due to an unforced error, somewhat marred the Maranello outfit's final day.
There were numerous red flags, two for pace-setter Nico Rosberg, one of them when he stalled his car attempting a practice start, his team subsequently tweeting; "that's what testing is for... we were just testing the marshals were awake."
However, while Mercedes and McLaren continue to assert their pace and reliability, as do Ferrari and Williams - albeit to a lesser extent - the misery continues for both Red Bull and its sister team Toro Rosso.
Once again the Mercedes powered teams completed the most laps 261 (877 miles), more than the Renault (97 laps) and Ferrari (94 laps) teams combined, while a clear pattern is emerging when one studies the best times posted over the course of the four days.
With Rosberg taking over from Lewis Hamilton - who topped the timesheets yesterday - the German team's programme consisted of shorter runs in the morning, followed by a race simulation in the afternoon. Despite the red flag stoppages neither of which were insurmountable, the team is happy with the lap count and the work achieved this week.
"We can be very pleased with the first test in Bahrain this week," beamed Rosberg. "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," he admitted, "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.
"The final day of the test saw us complete some lower fuel runs on softer tyres to get a series of one-lap simulations under our belt," added Paddy Lowe. "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."
Newly engaged Jenson Button was back behind the wheel for McLaren, the Englishman completing 66 laps as his team worked through a range of set-up changes. This week's test has enabled the Woking outfit to develop and refine areas of investigation that were initiated at the Jerez test earlier this month. Ahead of next week's final test the team will update and run the MP4-29 in the specification intended for the season-opener in Melbourne in three weeks time.
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.
It was a productive day for Ferrari also and the team managed to get through all of its planned technical programme, despite the fact that the F14 T hit the barriers in the final minutes of the session, Raikkonen taking the blame.
This morning, saw the Maranello outfit focus on car set-up, an evaluation of the medium and soft tyres and on fine tuning the start procedure. In the afternoon, there was aerodynamic work on the agenda, as well as some long runs.
"We have managed to improve some things compared to Jerez and we continue to understand more about the behaviour of the car," said Raikkonen. "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."
Having been announced overnight as Williams test and reserve driver it was baptism of fire for Brazilian Felipe Nasr, however, he more than rose to the occasion. The youngster completed 87 laps - the second most of the day - on his way to posting the fourth fastest time as the Grove outfit worked on reliability, aero evaluations and mileage for the F1 debutant.
"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," said the Brazilian. "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."
"Felipe did a very good job for us," said Chief Test & Support Engineer, Rod Nelson. "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."
Although over 5s off the pace, Pastor Maldonado will be happy to have more than doubled his mileage in the Lotus E22. The fact that the black and gold car was the highest placed Renault runner - completing more laps than the three other similarly powered teams combine - will also be of some satisfaction.
Despite problems with software and electronic resets, the Venezuelan was able to complete 59 laps as the Enstone outfit focussed on aero assessment, drivetrain mapping and settings work.
"We gained a lot more laps today and it was good for me to get time in the car," said Maldonado. "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."
"Today was much better for us," added Alan Permane, "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."
It was an uncharacteristically poor day for Force India, the Silverstone-based outfit's day coming to an early end following a drivetrain issue. Nonetheless, the performance of the VJM07 on previous days suggests that today was a one-off unlike the problems facing some of its rivals.
"It's a shame to lose the track time this afternoon," said Sergio Perez, "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."
"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," added Otmar Szafnauer, the team's Chief Operating Officer. "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."
It was another tough day at Red Bull where Daniel Ricciardo completed just 15 laps his running hampered by issues discovered during the morning session.
"In all honesty it wasn't a great day today," said the Australian. "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."
"This morning we felt like we were in good shape," added Race Engineering Co-ordinator, Andy Damerum. "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," he continued. "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."
There was more misery at Toro Rosso where Jean-Eric Vergne completed just 19 laps, posting a best time over 7s off the pace.
"A far from satisfactory day, with only a few laps completed as the STR9 suffered several teething problems," said the team in its close of play press release. "With very little track time, the team also focussed on pit stop practice and other procedures.
The team now has four days to work hard with its technical partners to try and solve its problems before testing resumes here at the Sakhir circuit on Thursday.
"There's no point in making negative comments," said Jean-Eric Vergne, "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," he admitted, "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."
While the day was meant to be split between Marcus Ericsson and his teammate, Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham, the Swede's day came to a very early end, while his Japanese teammate didn't fare much better.
"It's clearly not ideal that I couldn't run more today," admitted the Swede, "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."
"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," added Kobayashi. "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."
"Overall this has been a positive test for us and Renault who have made good progress from where we were in Jerez," insisted Jody Egginton, the team's Deputy Technical Director. "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."
"We can be reasonably pleased with how the first Bahrain test has gone for us and Caterham," added Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1's Track Support Leader. "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."
The further down the timesheets you travel the more the misery, Sauber and Marussia both failing to even post a time.
The C33 was not able to complete any running in the morning due to a problem with an interior part of the monocoque, forcing the Swiss team to change the chassis. The crew worked hard and managed to get the car back on track in the afternoon allowing Adrian Sutil to drive a total of seven laps.
"It was a disappointing day," said the German. "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."
"We have learned a lot in the past four days," added an equally miserable Giampaolo Dall'Ara, the Hinwil outfit's Head of Track Engineering. "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."
Marussia experienced a continuation of its reliability issues. Since the first time these were encountered earlier this week, the team back at its UK HQ has 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, the Russian team was able to return Jules Bianchi to the track for the final ten 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. Fingers crossed.
Check out our Saturday gallery, here.
Chris Balfe