TESTING 2014

[J.Clark]

Times at day's end:
1. Perez    Force India   1min 35.570secs 108 laps
2. Alonso   Ferrari    1min 35.634secs 122 laps
3. Ricciardo      Red Bull    1min 35.743secs 66 laps
4. Massa    Williams   1min 36.507secs 103 laps
5. Button    McLaren   1min 36.901secs 52 laps
6. Bianchi    Marussia    1min 38.092secs 75 laps
7.Hamilton    Mercedes   1min 39.041secs 89 laps
8. Vergne   STR    1min 39.636secs 61 laps
9. Gutierrez   Sauber    1min 39.976secs 106 laps
10. Maldonado   Lotus    1min 41.613secs 31 laps
11. Ericsson   Caterham 1min 42.516secs 55 laps
 Red Bull finish today looking a little better perhaps, but the majority of the Renault powered cars are well down the ladder.
Ferrari is looking pretty good.
Force-India is looking great for now.
Williams and McLaren are both doing fairly well and could be contenders by the looks of it so far.

[J.Clark]

Morning times have Massa and Williams at the top.
His time was in the 1:37s, which is not equal to the 1:35s set by Mercedes, but hopefully they will get closer.

Vettel's woes continued and I read that he didn't complete his installation lap in his first trip out of the pits and on the second, he stopped in the pit lane and had to help push the car back.

I think he will be hard pressed to win another title this season.

[Scott]

Ah, not to worry, RBR is just bluffing...right Vintly?   

[J.Clark]

  That is funny.

Time sheet for day 3 of the final test:
1. Massa Williams 1min 33.258secs 99 laps
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1min 33.484secs 103 laps
3. Kimi Ferrari 1min 35.426secs 87 laps
4. Magnussen McLaren1min 35.894secs 88 laps
5. Kvyat Toro Rosso 1min 36.113secs 81 laps
6. Hulkenberg Force India 1min 36.205secs 115 laps
7. Bianchi Marussia 1min 37.087secs 78 laps
8. Ericsson Caterham 1min 38.083secs 117 laps
9. Grosjean Lotus 1min 42.166secs 33 laps
10. Sutil Sauber No time
11. Vettel Red Bull No time

Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault, in that order for the power units. 
Red Bull is truly in crisis - garage door was reportedly shut most of the day.

The true pace of the cars is beginning to show now I think.  Massa and Rosberg are nearly two seconds quicker than previous days' top times, regardless of who set them.

It would be very wrong to make any predictions at this point.  I would personally find it very interesting if Williams had a race winning car this season and Massa ended up WDC, beating Alonso in his Ferrari 

[vintly]

I wish! It's undeniably awful, extremely concerning and appallingly abject in the extreme. Which is also terribly exciting - will they / won't they?

I've championed Red Bull and Lotus this year - the two teams with the fewest test laps - brilliant.

One more test day to go, but I don't think we'll see any giant steps from the Bulls tomorrow.

EEK!

[J.Clark]

Well, when it ran (yesterday), it was quick so I guess you can take that from at least one of the test sessions.

[J.Clark]

Pre-season testing is done.
Red Bull did keep the car running today with a fair amount of laps under their belt for the day.

Final Times...
1. L. Hamilton Mercedes Grand Prix 01:33.278 69
2. V. Bottas Williams 01:33.987 108
3. F. Alonso Ferrari 01:34.280 74
4. N. Hulkenberg Force India F1 01:35.577 74
5. J. Vergne Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:35.701 74
6. A. Sutil Sauber 01:36.467 91
7. M. Chilton Marussia 01:36.835 61
8. E. Gutiérrez Sauber 01:37.303 86
9. S. Vettel Red Bull 01:37.468 77
10. J. Button McLaren 01:38.111 22
11. K. Kobayashi Caterham 01:38.391 106
12. R. Grosjean Lotus Renault 01:39.302 32

Realizing we don't know what any of them were doing, fuel loads, tire wear and so on, Massa emerges with the top time for the week and Bottas was second today behind Hamilton.

It looks like the top three starting off will likely be Mercedes, Williams and Ferrari; although, neither Alonso nor Kimi got close to the times set by the former two.

It will be fun watch Vettel having to actually work for points.

DVR set for practice, qualifying and the race . . .

[vintly]

The DNF predictions are gonna be hilarious this year. 8 red flags today on the last chance before Melbourne's Friday practice - amazing.

I wouldn't be surprised if Williams romp it in Melbourne. That would be great.

It will be fun watch Vettel having to actually work for points.

Oi! He always works! But yes, it will be fun to watch him battle.

[J.Clark]

Yes it would!

Here are the combined times from the week.
Bahrain F1 test 2: Combined results
1. Massa   Williams 1min 33.258
2. Hamilton   Mercedes   1min 33.278
3. Rosberg  Mercedes   1min 33.484
4. Bottas   Williams   1min 33.987
5. Alonso   Ferrari   1min 34.280
6. Perez    Force India   1min 35.290
7. Raikkonen   Ferrari 1min 35.426
8. Hulkenberg Force India 1min 35.577
9. Vergne   STR   1min 35.701
10. Ricciardo   Red Bull   1min 35.743
11. Magnussen   McLaren   1min 35.895
12. Kvyat   STR    1min 36.113
13. Sutil   Sauber   1min 36.467
14. Chilton   Marussia   1min 36.835
15. Button   McLaren   1min 36.901
16. Bianchi    Marussia   1min 37.087
17. Gutierrez   Sauber   1min 37.303
18. Vettel   Red Bull   1min 37.468
19. Ericsson   Caterham 1min 38.083
20. Kobyashi   Caterham 1min 38.391
21. Grosjean Lotus 1min 39.302
22. Maldonado   Lotus    1min 40.599


Comparative laps times - Bahrain Grand Prix 2013:
Pole position:
Rosberg   Mercedes 1min 32.330
Fastest (race) lap:
Vettel    Red Bull   1min 36.961

It looks like fears over the cars being much slower were for nothing.  I think, just as has seemed to always be the case, the engineers will find a way to keep the cars as fast or faster than before the changes to the rules. 

[J.Clark]

I was just looking over some of the data from Bahrain.
It hit me for the first time that Williams - both of them - were faster than both Ferrari factory cars, by a full second.  Alonso's best was set on the same day as Massa's best.

Accepting that it is JUST testing, Williams could be the first non-factory team to win a title in either category since Ferrari's run of total domination over a decade ago.  Actually, Williams was the last non-factory team to do that with Hill back in the mid-1990s if memory serves.

[Jericoke]

Accepting that it is JUST testing, Williams could be the first non-factory team to win a title in either category since Ferrari's run of total domination over a decade ago.  Actually, Williams was the last non-factory team to do that with Hill back in the mid-1990s if memory serves.

I know that the definition of 'Factory Team' is a little hazy, but I'm pretty sure that RBR isn't owned by Renault, and clearly don't work closely with the engine development team.

That aside, Brawn was definitely not a 'Factory Team', as it was a Honda chassis with a Mercedes engine slapped in!

However, I am looking forward to a changing of the guard, even if it is going back to the 'old guard'.  (Although I would be delighted to see Caterham win, I'm hardly hopeful)

[Dare]

Accepting that it is JUST testing, Williams could be the first non-factory team to win a title in either category since Ferrari's run of total domination over a decade ago.  Actually, Williams was the last non-factory team to do that with Hill back in the mid-1990s if memory serves.

I know that the definition of 'Factory Team' is a little hazy, but I'm pretty sure that RBR isn't owned by Renault, and clearly don't work closely with the engine development team.

That aside, Brawn was definitely not a 'Factory Team', as it was a Honda chassis with a Mercedes engine slapped in!

However, I am looking forward to a changing of the guard, even if it is going back to the 'old guard'.  (Although I would be delighted to see Caterham win, I'm hardly hopeful)

I think the only true factory teams are Mercedes and
Ferrari.IMO to be a factory team you have to build chassis
and engine

[J.Clark]

Ferrari and Merc are the only two true factory teams these days.

True Jericoke, I forgot about Brawn's success as a privateer.

[Irisado]

I've really enjoyed winter testing.  What a refreshing change to see the teams having to come to terms with their cars not being bullet proof the instant that they hit the tracks, and actually having to find solutions to these problems.  This really does throw some much needed spice into predictions for Melbourne.

I'd love to write Vettel off, but that's too dangerous.  The Red Bull clearly has the pace when it's running, according to drivers from other teams, so I don't think that getting up to speed will be their problem.  The difficulty will be finishing the race.  The most laps they've achieved consecutively is something around twenty I read today, which doesn't bode well for finishing in Melbourne.  Vettel 0 laps-engine would be a delightful way for the season to start for me .

Mercedes should be favourites, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Williams could have a genuine chance of a podium finish, or even a win, should their reliability hold while others have problems.

I can't read Ferrari at the moment.  Are they sandbagging a bit, or is their engine a bit lacking?  The reports from testing seem inconclusive.

[J.Clark]

It could be a repeat of 2008 with Hamilton and Massa, just in different teams.

And the view of Williams new livery is here:
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/200860/1/first-look-martini-returns-with-williams-f1.html