Bahrain second 2014 test Test day one
Live Text
Sort by
Quote
AUTOSPORT F1 Editor EDD STRAW: "Renault's progress in Bahrain was always going to be interesting to follow. While Lotus has managed seven laps with the new E22 and the Caterham has also been on track, both Red Bull and Scuderia Toro Rosso remain inactive.
"Head of track operations Remi Taffin was optimistic when speaking last Friday about the progress made with troubleshooting both the hardware and software problems since the Jerez test and predicted that 'we will get into Bahrain and the first day without all of the issues that we had in the first test, which we now believe are closed'.
"We're only two hours into that first day, so it's too early to draw any conclusions but the fact two of the Renault teams haven't even got out of the garage yet is concerning, particularly for those owned by an Austrian energy drinks giant.
"The bottom line is that we have yet to see a credible, quick laptime from a Renault-engined car with over a third of the available pre-season testing in the history books."
"Head of track operations Remi Taffin was optimistic when speaking last Friday about the progress made with troubleshooting both the hardware and software problems since the Jerez test and predicted that 'we will get into Bahrain and the first day without all of the issues that we had in the first test, which we now believe are closed'.
"We're only two hours into that first day, so it's too early to draw any conclusions but the fact two of the Renault teams haven't even got out of the garage yet is concerning, particularly for those owned by an Austrian energy drinks giant.
"The bottom line is that we have yet to see a credible, quick laptime from a Renault-engined car with over a third of the available pre-season testing in the history books."
Stopwatch
Hamilton's Mercedes is back out and the 2008 world champion is the first man to crack the 1m39s.
Frijns back into the pits now after a total of seven laps in the Caterham. Not exactly a long run, but almost matches the 10 in total he managed at Jerez...
The Dutchman's best lap puts him just 0.4s shy of Grosjean's Lotus, which has just headed back out.
The Dutchman's best lap puts him just 0.4s shy of Grosjean's Lotus, which has just headed back out.
Robin Frijns
Caterham reports that Frijns has been sent out for his first "longer run" of the day, so he'll be looking to clock up the mileage for his new team.
It's worth remembering that not all Newey's designs have been overwhelming successes (just the majority of them...)
When Newey got it wrong
When Newey got it wrong
Still no sign of Red Bull leaving the garage today. The champion team has so far completed fewer miles than anyone else in 2014.
It certainly has the pedigree to recover from that, but it's a worrying situation with such a big rule change and so little testing allowed.
And while all the Renault teams have had issues, Adrian Newey admitted to AUTOSPORT this week that the way the V6 is packaged in the car was an equally big factor (though he did mention Renault's "particularly large" cooling needs too...)
It certainly has the pedigree to recover from that, but it's a worrying situation with such a big rule change and so little testing allowed.
And while all the Renault teams have had issues, Adrian Newey admitted to AUTOSPORT this week that the way the V6 is packaged in the car was an equally big factor (though he did mention Renault's "particularly large" cooling needs too...)
Caterham reserve Robin Frijns clocks a 1m47.529s lap to go fifth fastest. This is his first flying lap of pre-season testing having failed to set a time at Jerez.
Massa returns to the track in the Williams FW36. Sutil has now completed 14 laps in the Sauber.
Latest updates to our testing gallery include that smoking Ferrari, plenty of Lotus E22 close-ups and the usual array of ungainly-looking sensor equipment:
Bahrain F1 test in pictures
Bahrain F1 test in pictures
Alonso is back in the pits and into the garage this time, but Ferrari power is still represented on-track thanks to Adrian Sutil's Sauber, which has now clocked 10 laps.
Alonso quickly returns to the track. He's done more laps than any other driver so far.
Massa and Alonso both return to the pits. Massa completed another installation lap, while Alonso has taken his 'laps completed' tally up to 12.
Breaking news
AUTOSPORT's JONATHAN NOBLE is tipping Williams as a dark horse for 2014. Here's why:
Does Williams hold the aces?
Does Williams hold the aces?
The work that Williams didn't want anyone to see in its garage is completed, and Massa is on track for the second time today.
With the "transponder not working" message still flashing for Ferrari's benefit, Alonso shaves a bit more off of his best to set a 1m41.115s.
The Ferrari does appear to still be logging times though. Since setting his current best, he has come round in 1m41.8s and 1m43.4s.
Now Ferrari gets a message from race control saying that the transponder on Alonso's car has stopped working.
Fernando Alonso
Alonso caused the first red flag of the morning, having exited the pits with a plume of smoke from his Ferrari.
Problems are inevitable for the 2014 F1 cars at this stage, and the teams are having to go through their teething troubles in the public eye - AUTOSPORT pounced on the pics of the smoking Ferrari as soon as they appeared, and we won't be the only ones.
Our columnist DIETER RENCKEN got readers talking after Jerez when he controversially suggested that F1 should do its testing in private...
Grosjean pits, and Alonso gets himself on the timesheet with a 1m41.667s.
With the Lotus logging some laptimes, Alonso heads out to join the action.
Grosjean heads out to add to the Lotus lap count on the team's first public day of running with its new car.
We've had just over an hour of running, and here's how the lap count looks so far:
Hamilton (Mercedes) 11 laps
Sutil (Sauber) 9 laps
Hulkenberg (Force India) 4 laps
Alonso (Ferrari) 4 laps
Magnussen (McLaren) 3 laps
Frijns (Caterham) 2 laps
Bianchi (Marussia) 2 laps
Grosjean (Lotus) 1 lap
Massa (Williams) 1 lap
Hamilton (Mercedes) 11 laps
Sutil (Sauber) 9 laps
Hulkenberg (Force India) 4 laps
Alonso (Ferrari) 4 laps
Magnussen (McLaren) 3 laps
Frijns (Caterham) 2 laps
Bianchi (Marussia) 2 laps
Grosjean (Lotus) 1 lap
Massa (Williams) 1 lap
Nothing on track at the moment, and it's still only Hamilton and Sutil who have logged a time today.
Of note, we have only seen nine of the 11 cars so far this morning.
No sign of Red Bull or Toro Rosso yet...
Of note, we have only seen nine of the 11 cars so far this morning.
No sign of Red Bull or Toro Rosso yet...
Quick update on Alonso causing a red flag earlier: The two-time world champion did manage to get the car back under its own steam, but it was a couple of minutes after the session had been stopped.
Williams garage
Unlike on GP weekends, the teams are free to block sight/access to their garages from prying eyes.
While Williams gets busy with the FW36 behind those screens, team personnel are out the front of the garage extending an 'exclusion zone' to prevent anyone from getting a closer look.
The tactic has worked, as it has convinced EDD STRAW to return to the media centre.
According to EDD STRAW, the engine cover has been taken off the Williams and he can see "feverish activity". He's also heard that the issue could have involved the power cutting out when Massa took to the track earlier.
There's work going on behind screens at Williams, where Felipe Massa is out the front of the garage chatting to team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
As Hamilton improves again, his current 1m41s are around five seconds shy of last year's Bahrain GP fastest lap.
Stopwatch
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton's first timed lap of the day takes the Mercedes to the top of the timesheets with a 1m41.750s.
Force India reports that at the top of Nico Hulkenberg's to-do list this morning is in- and out-laps and 'constant speed' aero work.
AUTOSPORT's JONATHAN NOBLE recently argued that noise didn't matter in F1 based on his experience of the Jerez test. He's on half-term holiday duties this week so is probably pining for the quiet of a 2014 F1 car.
Twitter
Drivers not in action today are in spectator mode, including Max Chilton, who tweets this picture of his chilled-out legs, and fuels the anger of those who claim 2014-spec F1 is too quiet:
"Jules is in the car today & I will be in tomorrow & Friday. Still odd sitting on the pit wall with no ear protection."
"Jules is in the car today & I will be in tomorrow & Friday. Still odd sitting on the pit wall with no ear protection."
With Sutil the only driver to have set a lap time, EDD STRAW noticed something on the Sauber during that short run. The car appeared to have cameras mounted to it, recording front wing behaviour and rear suspension travel.
Felipe Massa has taken the Williams out for the first time today. As usual, a radio check is the first item on the agenda.
Sutil has pitted, having taken his lap count up to nine for the day, while Hulkenberg has just returned from another installation lap.
Sutil has pitted, having taken his lap count up to nine for the day, while Hulkenberg has just returned from another installation lap.
After most teams used Jerez as little more than a shakedown to get their heads around the new rules package, we can expect to see a lot of developments appearing on the cars at the next two tests as everybody ramps up for the Australian GP.
Sauber was one of the teams to promise a big aero upgrade for this test, and the C33 - the only car to have set a time so far this morning - has indeed emerged with a series of updates.
Sauber was one of the teams to promise a big aero upgrade for this test, and the C33 - the only car to have set a time so far this morning - has indeed emerged with a series of updates.
Fernando Alonso
Alonso takes the Ferrari back out after causing that earlier red flag.
The F14 T has a big aero sensor mounted in front of the left-rear wheel, and this time there is no sign of the smoke plume that trailed the car when it left the pits for the first time earlier.
Sutil is still going on track, and he has lowered his best lap to a 1m44.335s.
We're giving EDD STRAW a workout in the pits at the moment, and he's found out a bit more info regarding the 30-minute delay we had this morning:
"The word in the pitlane is that some marshals were not in position at the allotted time. Officials then wanted to check the circuit and work out if any more were missing and if so, how many.
"Team personnel were generally disgruntled about the delay."
"The word in the pitlane is that some marshals were not in position at the allotted time. Officials then wanted to check the circuit and work out if any more were missing and if so, how many.
"Team personnel were generally disgruntled about the delay."
No sign of an imminent run for Red Bull at the moment. The garage doors are shut as work continues on the RB10.
On track, Sutil's Sauber is the first car to log a time of any sort - a 1m48.710s
On track, Sutil's Sauber is the first car to log a time of any sort - a 1m48.710s
Romain Grosjean, Lotus, Bahrain F1 test
If you want to stare in awe at the Lotus E22 and its unique front, we've added an initial set of high-res pictures to our testing gallery, with plenty more to come.
Bahrain F1 test in pictures
By: Glenn Freeman, Matt Beer, Ben Anderson, Scott Mitchell
Published:
Lap:
