Bahrain second 2014 test Test day two
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The only car on track at the moment is the Toro Rosso, which has already got 17 laps under its belt in Vergne's hands today.
Stopwatch
Magnussen is the first driver today to dip under the 1m40s mark.
Yesterday's best time - from Nico Hulkenberg's Force India - was a 1m36.880s.
Yesterday's best time - from Nico Hulkenberg's Force India - was a 1m36.880s.
Rosberg Mercedes
Here's a sight that might comfort those teams that have struggled for mileage while their silver rivals pound relentlessly round and round - it's Nico Rosberg's Mercedes W05 on the back of a lorry after its earlier problem.
Stopwatch
Vergne's busy morning continues - he's back on track and has lowered today's benchmark.
His time at the top is promptly then brought to an end by Magnussen's McLaren.
His time at the top is promptly then brought to an end by Magnussen's McLaren.
Magnussen becomes the third driver to set a time today.
Chilton continues to improve, as Marussia becomes the second team to make a point of catching up on lost running from yesterday.
We've had our first glimpse of the Red Bull too, as Sebastian Vettel takes the RB10 out of the pits.
Chilton - transponder now up and running - joins Vergne on the leaderboard.
Twitter
Williams - another team to miss out on the majority of yesterday's action (with a fuel system issue) - is hoping to play catch-up today:
@WilliamsF1Team: "Our day two programme effectively our day one programme as we start to work through yesterday's planned aero runs #Bahrain"
@WilliamsF1Team: "Our day two programme effectively our day one programme as we start to work through yesterday's planned aero runs #Bahrain"
We're 50 minutes into today's running and we've already seen nine cars.
Only Red Bull and Lotus are yet to take to the track for at least an installation lap.
Only Red Bull and Lotus are yet to take to the track for at least an installation lap.
The sound of Bottas taking the Williams out of the pits breaks the silence on track.
Mercedes says that Rosberg made it as far as Turn 8 before stopping to cause that earlier red flag. "Team investigating now".
Twitter
As Vergne continues to run, here's an interesting choice of re-tweet from his Toro Rosso team this morning:
Re-tweeted by Toro Rosso: "@RenaultSportF1: Now back to the track action - second day in Bahrain. Still a hefty job list but mood is confident"
Vergne now pits, with 10 laps chalked up for today already.
Re-tweeted by Toro Rosso: "@RenaultSportF1: Now back to the track action - second day in Bahrain. Still a hefty job list but mood is confident"
Vergne now pits, with 10 laps chalked up for today already.
Max Chilton has completed an installation lap already this morning, but there is no sign of him on the timing screens as his transponder is not working at the moment.
Vergne is still on track, and already has more laps under his belt today than his team managed yesterday.
Toro Rosso was clearly not amused with its day's work, as all of the team's media commitments were cancelled last night. If this kind of running continues through today, you would imagine the team will be happy to talk about its progress later.
Vergne is still on track, and already has more laps under his belt today than his team managed yesterday.
Toro Rosso was clearly not amused with its day's work, as all of the team's media commitments were cancelled last night. If this kind of running continues through today, you would imagine the team will be happy to talk about its progress later.
Stopwatch
As Vergne drops down to the 1m42s, he also matches the lap count (five) of his team-mate Kvyat from day one.
Yesterday's pacesetter Nico Hulkenberg is starting the day with a large aero-measuring device in front of his left sidepod.
Meanwhile, Vergne is still going round and continues to improve his laptime.
Meanwhile, Vergne is still going round and continues to improve his laptime.
Breaking news
Here's the full story of Lotus and Renault's new deal:
Lotus and Renault finalise multi-year deal
The fact that the E22 turned up with a Renault engine yesterday hinted that the already-obvious news of their 2014 partnership would be confirmed, but the multi-year aspect shores up the relationship after Lotus briefly looked elsewhere.
Lotus and Renault finalise multi-year deal
The fact that the E22 turned up with a Renault engine yesterday hinted that the already-obvious news of their 2014 partnership would be confirmed, but the multi-year aspect shores up the relationship after Lotus briefly looked elsewhere.
We have our first laptime on the board - a 1m45.244s from Vergne.
Vergne is the first car to stay out and pass the pits. Is this a sign that Toro Rosso is serious about catching up on yesterday's lost mileage?
Green flag
The track is open again, and Toro Rosso sends Vergne straight back out.
Alonso, Kobayashi, Hulkenberg, Gutierrez and Magnussen join him.
Alonso, Kobayashi, Hulkenberg, Gutierrez and Magnussen join him.
Quote
Reliability is bound to be a topic throughout testing, and probably for most of the season as well.
BEN ANDERSON spoke to Ferrari's deputy chief designer Simone Resta about the pressures of making the cars reliable, particularly in terms of heat management.
"It is fair to say I don't have any real information to judge where we are compared with the others," he said. "I know that we have invested quite a lot on the front compared to last year knowing that the challenge is more, so we just focused all our effort and tried to improve compared to before.
"I think [yesterday was] a very good day, miles on the track, with long-ish runs, adapting the driver to the car and vice versa, good day of testing, good first day of testing. No major issues, nothing major to report."
BEN ANDERSON spoke to Ferrari's deputy chief designer Simone Resta about the pressures of making the cars reliable, particularly in terms of heat management.
"It is fair to say I don't have any real information to judge where we are compared with the others," he said. "I know that we have invested quite a lot on the front compared to last year knowing that the challenge is more, so we just focused all our effort and tried to improve compared to before.
"I think [yesterday was] a very good day, miles on the track, with long-ish runs, adapting the driver to the car and vice versa, good day of testing, good first day of testing. No major issues, nothing major to report."
Lewis Hamilton
We don't know the circumstances of Rosberg's stoppage just yet, but the fact that the Mercedes only completed half a lap this morning before causing a red flag backs up Lewis Hamilton's comments from yesterday.
The 2008 world champion claimed that Mercedes - which has consistently been towards the top of the mileage charts so far in pre-season, has not been without its own problems so far in 2014.
"Although it looks like we are doing a lot of laps, it's still a massive challenge for us," he told reporters in the paddock yesterday evening.
Rosberg's car has returned to the pits.
Breaking news
The day has started with a minor piece of news here in the paddock, as Lotus and Renault have announced an extension of their engine partnership.
We'll have more on the story shortly.
We'll have more on the story shortly.
Gutierrez has made it back to the pits, while there is no sign of Rosberg.
Red flag
With Rosberg and Esteban Gutierrez out on track, we have our first red flag of the day.
After a troubled day yesterday, Toro Rosso is the first team to venture out, as Jean-Eric Vergne gets his first lap of this test.
He'll be hoping for more mileage than team-mate Daniil Kvyat managed yesterday, as the GP3 champion completed just five laps in the STR9.
Vergne is joined on track by Nico Rosberg, who has taken over the Mercedes from Lewis Hamilton for today.
He'll be hoping for more mileage than team-mate Daniil Kvyat managed yesterday, as the GP3 champion completed just five laps in the STR9.
Vergne is joined on track by Nico Rosberg, who has taken over the Mercedes from Lewis Hamilton for today.
Here is today's full driver line-up:
Red Bull – Sebastian Vettel
Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
Ferrari – Fernando Alonso
Lotus – Romain Grosjean
McLaren - Kevin Magnussen
Force India – Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber – Esteban Gutierrez
Toro Rosso – Jean-Eric Vergne
Williams – Valtteri Bottas
Marussia – Max Chilton
Caterham – Kamui Kobayashi
Red Bull – Sebastian Vettel
Mercedes – Nico Rosberg
Ferrari – Fernando Alonso
Lotus – Romain Grosjean
McLaren - Kevin Magnussen
Force India – Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber – Esteban Gutierrez
Toro Rosso – Jean-Eric Vergne
Williams – Valtteri Bottas
Marussia – Max Chilton
Caterham – Kamui Kobayashi
Green flag
The first day of this test has already given us much to talk about, and it will be fascinating to see how the storylines surrounding Red Bull and Renault develop from here onwards.
Welcome to AUTOSPORT's live coverage of day two of the second pre-season Formula 1 test from Bahrain.
By: Glenn Freeman, Matt Beer, Edd Straw, Ben Anderson, Pablo Elizalde
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