Red Bull manage half a lap in penultimate Bahrain test day - Renault teams continue to struggle, as Massa goes fastest
Published by Christine
The story of Red Bull's fall from grace this pre-season took another turn for the worse today, with Sebastian Vettel climbing in the car after a three hour wait, only to find he couldn't complete the installation lap. On his next attempt, he didn't even make it out of the pitlane, so Red Bull gave up their plans for track time and concentrated their time spent in the garage.
Others had problems too, but none quite so significant as yet another day of lost running for the defending champions. Lotus had electrical issues in the morning and then an energy recovery problem that took too long to fix to get him back out on track again. Likewise, Adrian Sutil completed only one installation lap before coming to a stop at the pit entry with smoke billowing from the car. The Sauber needed an engine change which was also too lengthy a procedure.
This is why we are testing. Of course I would like to drive as much as possible, but you have to look at the overall picture and the team decided to focus on and get ready for the final day of testing tomorrow. I would rather have these issues appearing here at the test than on the first race weekend. It shows how complex the new car and powertrain are and that we are exploring them to the limits.
The Mercedes teams were still having a good time of it, although Nico Rosberg had a bit of a wait to get going after the engine needed changing. However, the team got him out in time to complete over 100 laps and finish second fastest. He pipped Felipe Massa to first place towards the end of the session, but the Brazilian came back out in the last few minutes to regain his P1 placing and set the fastest lap in Bahrain so far this year.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F Massa | Williams F1 Team | 1:33.258 | 99 |
| 2 | N Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:33.484 | 103 |
| 3 | K Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:35.426 | 87 |
| 4 | K Magnussen | McLaren Mercedes | 1:35.894 | 88 |
| 5 | D Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:36.113 | 81 |
| 6 | N Hülkenberg | Force India | 1:36.205 | 115 |
| 7 | J Bianchi | Marussia F1 Team | 1:37.087 | 78 |
| 8 | M Ericsson | Caterham F1 Team | 1:38.083 | 117 |
| 9 | R Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | 1:42.166 | 33 |
| 10 | A Sutil | Sauber F1 Team | No time | 1 |
| 11 | S Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | No time | 0 |
In the middle of the table, some solid running was completed. Today saw three drivers again complete over 100 laps, whilst the average number chalked up by the top eight was 96. Ferrari finished third fastest with Kimi Räikkönen running a mix of short sprints and race simulation stints. Daniil Kvyat in the Toro Rosso was the best placed Renault, with the fifth fastest time.
Radio to @nico_rosberg either reminding him to "drink" or "blink" He's either rather thirsty or looking very intense,we're not sure which...
MercedesAMGF1
We've stopped running. We're investigating. Looks like an early bath for @RGrosjean today. Maybe to join Seb #Vettel in the pool...
Rod Nelson: This afternoon we did a full qualifying simulation and we are pleased with how that turned out, so it's been a good day for us.
1 day left of testing and Red Bull & Sauber are yet to clock any timed laps today. How much trouble do you really think Red Bull are in? #F1
We've got just one day left now, with all the pressure on teams to squeeze in any final testing that they need to get done before starting their preparation for Australia. As you can imagine, Red Bull are going to be under a huge amount of scrutiny tomorrow, but they're not the only ones still having mechanical problems, so this final day could be crucial.
