Teams run out of track time as testing draws to a close - Mercedes clock up the miles but suffer on the final day
Published by Christine
Three weeks of pre-season testing are now complete as the final day in Bahrain wound to its conclusion today. Where normally teams would have turned their attention to long-run race simulations and short run sprints for pace, we’ve seen mechanical troubles dominate throughout.
Even on the final day in Bahrain, there were at least three engine failures - for Nico Hülkenberg, Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean, a gearbox issue for pacesetter Lewis Hamilton, and a clutch problem for Kamui Kobayashi in the Caterham.
Overall, though, it’s Mercedes who are looking strong. As an engine supplier, they’ve dominated most of the test days in terms of pace and they have completed almost as much mileage as Renault and Ferrari put together, across the full twelve days.
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s struggles continue to astound, with their penultimate day in the desert holding just half an installation lap for Sebastian Vettel. Today was better with 77 laps, but they’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
