Engine failures dominate final day of pre-season testing - Lewis Hamilton leads the last day as mechanical troubles loom large
Published by Christine
There were still mechanical problems aplenty in the final day of testing in Bahrain, as several drivers were forced to change their engine, and there were eight red flag periods. The stop start session drew to a close with Lewis Hamilton on top, as Mercedes continued to show how strong they were. The team were not without their problems, however, as a gearbox problem delayed Mercedes getting their day started.
Sauber fielded both their drivers, with Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez between them racking up 177 laps. Red Bull managed to complete 77 laps, their most in a single day yet, but Vettel did go off track in the morning due to a mechanical problem, and the team concentrated on reliability over speed.
We cannot do the times that the guys at the top are doing for a couple of reasons, but at the moment we have bigger problems to solve than just the pace... We haven't done enough laps, the speed is not there compared to some other teams so we have to wait and see when we get [to Australia].
- Sebastian Vettel
Nico Hülkenberg and Jenson Button both had to change their Mercedes engines which brought their running to a halt. Romain Grosjean also was forced to halt after problems with the Renault power plant in his Lotus - a story we are getting very used to hearing!
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:33.278 | 70 |
| 2 | V Bottas | Williams F1 Team | 1:33.987 | 108 |
| 3 | F Alonso | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:34.280 | 74 |
| 4 | N Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:35.577 | 74 |
| 5 | JE Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:35.701 | 74 |
| 6 | A Sutil | Sauber F1 Team | 1:36.467 | 91 |
| 7 | M Chilton | Marussia F1 Team | 1:36.835 | 61 |
| 8 | E Gutiérrez | Sauber F1 Team | 1:37.303 | 86 |
| 9 | S Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:37.468 | 77 |
| 10 | J Button | McLaren Mercedes | 1:38.111 | 22 |
| 11 | K Kobayashi | Caterham F1 Team | 1:38.391 | 106 |
| 12 | R Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | 1:39.302 | 32 |
Although testing times aren't representative of anything, things were starting to speed up out there. Hamilton's P1 time was just 0.02 seconds off Felipe Massa's best time in Bahrain yesterday. Both Fernando Alonso and Max Chilton set the fastest times for Ferrari and Marussia respectively.
A clutch problem unfortunately ends our day a little earlier than planned, stopping us before our final planned performance runs...
CaterhamF1
Very proud to have achieved 936 laps - which is approx. 4900km - in winter testing with the Williams Mercedes FW36, #BO77AS, #MASSA & #NASR
End of testing.Been good 4 us but challenge to get car 100% reliable for Oz. but if a team can do it its team mercedes.
Can't believe we're racing in 2 weeks! It's all gone so quick. Now back to UK for a few days and then we're going down under. I can't wait!!
As Magnussen quite rightly says, testing is all done and dusted, and the teams will be packing up now to prepare for Australia. All except Red Bull, who remain in the desert for a filming day. It's heads down to make the final touches to the cars and then the racing gets underway in two weeks time! Having seen everything we have over the last few weeks, this looks set for one of the most unpredictable races in Melbourne that we've seen for a long time!
