Bahrain F1 test: Felipe Massa sets early pace, Red Bull struggles
Felipe Massa set the pace for Williams as the penultimate day of pre-season Formula 1 testing kicked off in Bahrain, while reigning champion team Red Bull suffered another significant setback
Daniel Ricciardo hailed Red Bull's progress after completing a 20-lap stint and setting the third fastest time during Friday's test, but world champion Sebastian Vettel failed to complete a lap this morning when the RB10 broke down on his installation run.
The team put up extended screens in the pitlane to shield the car from prying eyes as it returned to the pits. Vettel attempted another installation lap later but the car broke down again before it left the pits, so the four-time title winner helped marshals push the RB10 back to the Red Bull garage.
Adrian Sutil's Sauber also broke down on its installation lap at the very start of the test, stopping at the pitlane entrance and requiring fire marshals to attend to the rear of the car.
Force India has set the pace for two consecutive days with Sergio Perez driving, but Nico Hulkenberg fell three quarters of a second short of beating Massa's Williams to top spot on Saturday morning.
Mercedes made a late start after a precautionary engine change for the W05, but Nico Rosberg still clocked 22 laps and set the third fastest time on a set of medium compound Pirelli tyres.
Lotus also made a late start following fire damage caused by an engine failure on Friday for the twin-tusk E22. Romain Grosjean completed 14 laps in the repaired car this morning.
Daniel Kvyat's Toro Rosso, Kevin Magnussen's McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari rounded out the top six in a morning session that came to an early end when Jules Bianchi's Marussia broke down at Turn 2, 10 minutes before the scheduled lunchbreak.
Fernando Alonso completed over 100 laps on Friday, but Raikkonen again found his running limited in the F14 T, managing only nine laps so far.
Marcus Ericcson went seventh fastest for Caterham, clocking the most laps of anyone as he worked through a race simulation for the Leafield team.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m37.224s 48 2. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m38.000s +0.776s 42 3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.557s +1.333s 22 4. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m39.297s +2.073s 41 5. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m40.252s +3.028s 24 6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m41.542s +4.318s 9 7. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m41.849s +4.625s 69 8. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m41.889s +4.665s 55 9. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m43.088s +5.864s 14 10. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1 11. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1
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