It's too early to start drawing any definitive conclusions on the relative performance of Formula 1's 2014 cars. But by taking the fastest lap achieved by each car during last week's four-day Bahrain test, it's possible to get a few clues as to who looks hot and who doesn't.
As usual, I've converted the figures into a percentage deficit to the fastest time (Nico Rosberg's final-day lap of 1m33.283s). This allows you to make comparisons not just on one circuit, but also over varying lap lengths and with historical data.
FASTEST TIMES IN BAHRAIN (AS PERCENTAGE)
Team-Engine Deficit Tyre 1. Mercedes Soft 2. McLaren-Mercedes +1.795% Soft* 3. Force India-Mercedes +3.390% Soft 4. Ferrari +3.466% Soft 5. Williams-Mercedes +4.055% Soft 6. Sauber-Ferrari +4.178% Soft 7. Lotus-Renault +5.815% Soft 8. Toro Rosso-Renault +6.101% Soft 9. Red Bull-Renault +6.597% Medium 10. Caterham-Renault +7.045% Soft 11. Marussia-Ferrari +9.892% Winter medium
*As Kevin Magnussen's fastest McLaren time was set on supersoft rubber, Jenson Button's final-day lap on softs, just 0.057s slower, has been used. This was effectively a faster lap as it was on slower rubber.