2014 Pre-Season Testing

[minardi]

Testing is back. Lotus are back. Possible sweaty backs.

Driver line-up for the teams
Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel (Wed/Thurs); Daniel Ricciardo (Fri/Sat)
Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton (Wed/Fri); Nico Rosberg (Thurs/Sat)
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso (Wed/Thurs); Kimi Raikkonen (Fri/Sat)
Lotus: Romain Grosjean (Wed/Thurs) Pastor Maldonado (Fri/Sat)
McLaren: Kevin Magnussen (Wed/Thurs); Jenson Button (Fri/Sat)
Force India: Nico Hulkenberg (Wed/Thurs); Sergio Perez (Fri/Sat)
Toro Rosso: Daniil Kvyat (Wed/Fri); Jean-Eric Vergne (Thurs/Sat)
Marussia: Jules Bianchi (Wed/Fri); Max Chilton (Thurs/Sat)
Caterham: Robin Frijns (Wed); Kamui Kobayashi (Thurs/Sat); Marcus Ericsson (Fri)
Sauber: Adrian Sutil (Wed/Sat; Esteban Gutierrez (Thurs/Fri)
Williams: Felipe Massa (Wed); Other days TBC

[RS]

No laps for Red Bull or Torro Rosso yet...

Still think the McLaren looks really good; the cars with the smooth transitions on the noses, penis or not, look best IMO (like the Sauber and McLaren)

[Ranger]

I wonder how McLaren feels about moving to Honda engines next year?

Mercedes have nailed the transition to turbo engines.

Testing times so far:

P	 Driver	    Team	       Time
1	 Hulkenberg	Force India	1m36.880s
2	 Hamilton	  Mercedes	   1m37.908s  +1.028
3	 Magnussen	 McLaren	    1m38.295s  +1.415
4	 Alonso	    Ferrari	    1m39.628s  +2.748
5	 Vettel	    Red Bull	   1m40.224s  +3.344
6	 Sutil	     Sauber	     1m40.443s  +3.563
7	 Frijns	    Caterham	   1m42.900s  +6.020
8	 Kvyat	     Toro Rosso	 1m44.346s  +7.466
9	 Grosjean	  Lotus	      1m44.832s  +7.952

[AndyL]

I wonder how McLaren feels about moving to Honda engines next year?

Mercedes have nailed the transition to turbo engines.

It's rumoured that Honda are already supplying McLaren with sacks of cash. If so I'm sure that will be assuaging any discomfort McLaren might be feeling.

Renault are still not looking in great shape. Apart from Williams and Marussia, all the Mercedes- and Ferrari-powered teams have completed a lot of laps, while of the Renault teams only Caterham has managed a decent lap count so far.

The top times look pretty respectable already. Last year's fastest race lap was a 1:36 and pole a 1:32. Given the greater weight, reduced downforce and the early stage of development, I'm surprised to see them this close already.

[Tazio]

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m36.880s 78
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m37.879s +0.999s 64
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m37.908s +1.028s 74
4. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.295s +1.415s 81
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m40.224s +3.344s 14
6. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.443s +3.563s 82
7. Robin Frijns Caterham-Renault 1m42.534s +5.654s 68
8. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m44.346s +7.466s 5
9. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m44.832s +7.952s 8
10. Felipe Massa Williams-Meredes no time 5
11. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari no time 3

News sources are quick to point out that Hulk's fastest lap is faster than the fastest race lap in last year’s Bahrain GP. However it is also slower than Max Chilton's best quali lap that earned him grid position 22 for that same race. Pole last year was 132.3. I think they will find at least 2 seconds before they are done in Bahrain.

[RS]

Vettel's time was not so bad considering how few laps Red Bull have done. Maybe the Renailt wll perform ok once they sort the reliability out.

[airshifter]

I really don't pay much attention to testing times until the last couple of tests, and then only pay a little bit of attention. There are far too many variables as to who it testing what at what point in the day, fuel loads, sandbagging, etc.

It's great to see that some cars are near last years times, but without the full picture it still doesn't tell us much. If that time was a flyer in qually trim then they might be slow, if that lap was after a lot of laps in race conditions in race trim it tells us more, but still not the whole picture really.

[steveaki13]

Seems like its been another tough day for Red Bull.

Renault clearly having some difficulties.

I too am surprised by how close to last years times the cars are already. That normally means massive aero gain and thus tougher overtaking.

[rjbetty]

Looking forward to seeing what Marussia can do.

Perhaps Red Bull's time is fairly ominous given their difficulties. 6 months worth of dispensation later and it could be business as usual.

And, no, I'm not at all jealous of Red Bull. I never get bored of Sebastien Loeb and his titles in the WRC. I wish he could have made it 10 but I guess he saw what was coming with Ogier and VW.

[steveaki13]

rjbetty

What do you think Marussia can achieve this season. They have had some struggles today, but do you think they could actually score a point or more.

We must be two of the biggest supporters of the two backmarker teams. Most appear to think they are a waste of space. Every season we have the "this season a crazy race will give them a point"

I think with all the changes going on this could be the season.

Here's hoping