Just like last week a Force India VJM07 has topped the timesheets on the opening day of testing in Bahrain. This time it was Sergio Perez (1:35.290) who went fastest, managing a healthy 105 laps as well.
“We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it,” Perez said. “We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it’s been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car.
“Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.”
It’s often said you can never read too much into pre-season form, but after nine days of testing the form line is pretty clear. Mercedes power is best, followed by Ferrari and you’re in strife if you have a Renault V6 power unit.
Reliability is clearly going to be an issue this year and Perez aside most teams came away from testing overnight with a few grumbles.
Valtteri Bottas (1:36.184) went second quickest in the Mercedes-powered Williams FW36, with Kimi Raikkonen (1:36.432) a couple of tenths behind in the Ferrari.
All Mercedes-powered cars completed at least 89 laps, with Bottas racking up 128, more than anyone else. Adrian Sutil covered the most miles in a Ferrari-powered car, doing 89 laps in the Sauber C33; even Max Chilton in the hitherto troublesome Marussia MR03 managed 44 laps.
An upbeat Daniel Ricciardo (1:37.908) was the fastest of the Renault-powered runners, but was only seventh best on the day. He was able to finish 39 laps, although exhaust problems interrupted his afternoon session which consisted of only seven laps.
“Behind the wheel, that’s the best I’ve felt so far,” Daniel said. “The package seems to be coming together better. We still had a few issues today, but at least when the car was on track it was much more useful running and we made progress in the morning.
“It’s getting there. I’d love to keep going, but at least Seb has two days after me in the car, so I think we’ll be looking pretty good for the next three days.”
The slowest three cars on the day were the Renault-powered cars of Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Pastor Maldonado (Lotus) and Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham).
Unofficial test times from Bahrain II (Day 1):
1. Sergio Perez, Force India – 1:35.290 (105 laps)
2. Valtteri Bottas, Williams – 1:36.184 (128 laps)
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari – 1:36.432 (54 laps)
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes – 1:36.624 (89 laps)
5. Adrian Sutil, Sauber – 1:37.700 (89 laps)
6. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren – 1:37.825 (109 laps)
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull – 1:37.908 (39 laps)
8. Max Chilton, Marussia – 1:38.610 (44 laps)
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso – 1:39.242 (56 laps)
10. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus – 1:40.59 (31 laps)
11. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham – 1:42.285 (19 laps)
[Source: Formula1.com]