FORMULA 1 - 2014

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Grosjean: I am ready to lead the way with this challenge

Following the first laps on track of the E22 in Bahrain, Romain Grosjean speaks the forthcoming third season as race driver for Lotus F1 Team with the confidence, belief and experience to lead the team to greater things.

New season, new rules and new cars; how much of a challenge do you see the coming months to be?

Romain Grosjean: New season, new car, news rules – everything it pretty new and our challenge is pretty big. It’s very exciting though! We don’t know exactly what’s going on and where people are, it’s the same every year when we start the season, but it’s particularly the case right now with all the changes and new rules. The changing of engines, the changing of aerodynamics, more electrical help in the car, so yes some tough work for the engineers and drivers to understand and get on top of everything as quick as we can and hopefully faster than the others.

You are going into your third season as race driver for the team; will the continuity enable you to continue to learn and grow as a driver?

Grosjean: I think continuity will be important this year with all the rule changes, and it’s my third year at Enstone so it feels like home. I like the team and I think we do a very good job together so I’m happy to keep going, and I’m happy that we’re together for this challenge. We have a common aim for the future and we want to win races and win Championships. We’ll work as hard as we did to achieve even more than last year. I am ready to lead the way with this challenge.

You’ve been on the podium 9 times so far. Is that first win within reach?

Grosjean: I don’t know when it will come, I’ve come close a few times and nine podiums with the team is a good record. We just need to keep doing our best, keep trying to optimise everything we can from the first day we have on a race track to the Sunday and to get a good car. I trust the people here to try to give me all the tools we need to achieve that win – it’s a good car, a good engine, we have good strategy, we have good engineers and mechanics, and a good driver. So I’m looking forward to try and will go for it, and the day it comes, we’ll have a big party!

What do you think of the E22 and the design team which has created it?

Grosjean: I like the colour of the car, it’s nice. I think with the rule change it’s very interesting to see how people have understood it, and the direction people have taken. Our guys have been pretty clever with it; I really like the idea of trying something different, and we’ll just need to see when we get to Melbourne where we are. But I really like the car, and if it’s a winning car then I will love it!

What are your targets and objectives for 2014?

Grosjean: Targets and objectives are always the same when you start a new season – trying to win the title. It sounds optimistic sometimes, but I think we are all here to try and win races; the team in Enstone, the team on the racetrack and myself, so we’ll do everything we can, do our best, and see if it’s good enough!

Why the number 8?

Grosjean: Simply I like this number, plus it has some significance to me. My wife was born the 8th of December, we started dating in 2008 and, to my eyes my son is the 8th wonder of the world. That’s why I picked up number 8.

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Lopez: If we get the wind tunnel numbers on track as well, the E22 will go like hell

Self appointed acting Team Principal Gerard Lopez expects Lotus to be fully competitive in 2014, with their all new eye catching Lotus E22.

Amid reports of financial strife, the Enstone team sat out the opening Jerez test, and when the E22 finally made its public debut in Bahrain on Wednesday, it clocked the slowest time, and a mere 8 laps.

Team owner Lopez, however – acting as team boss while the McLaren-departed Eric Boullier’s successor is found – said that Lotus was right to have voluntarily skipped Jerez.

“I predicted that there would not be much to learn because of technical problems, so we saved a lot of money by staying home,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

The E22 then seemed to have a promising rollout at Jerez in the week after the official test, but in Bahrain on Wednesday Lotus struck Renault Power Unit trouble.

Nonetheless, Lopez is confident, dishing out high praise for the E22′s designers, who have penned a car not only with a two-pronged nose, but an unusual asymmetrical solution for the exhaust and rear wing support.

“We have a super car,” he said. ”The boys cannot believe the wind tunnel numbers. If we get those numbers on the track as well, the thing will go like hell.

“I can only hope we don’t end up with three Championships based on [engine suppliers] Mercedes and Ferrari and Renault,” said Lopez.

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Massa: The car is new, sometimes things happen and you don’t understand why

The air of optimism and rejuvenation which has so far abounded at Williams took a little knock on the opening day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, when a fuel cell issue with the FW36 seriously curtailed Felipe Massa’s time in the car, but the Brazilian is not fazed.

Speaking to media at the end of the first day at Sakhir, Massa was asked if the team is ‘on top of’ the problem, “I think so, but not 100%. Every time that we had this problem we needed to dismount the car, mount again. Every time you dismount and mount you lose three hours. Then we had the problem again. We had to pass through so many things and I hope that tomorrow will be okay.”

“I don’t think it should be a big problem to be honest. We saw that most of the Mercedes teams could run today. We ran in Jerez so it’s something that I’m not so worried [about] because we run already.”

“It’s not the first time that we put the car on the track and we could not drive. We did many laps [in Jerez] and I think it’s important to understand quickly the problem that we had today.”

Massa, in his twelfth season in Formula 1, and his first with Williams is confident that the problems will be ironed out.

He explained, “The car is new, sometimes things happen and you don’t understand why, but I think it’s important to pass through this problem and understand everything about the car,” he insisted.”

“We know that when we arrive in Australia maybe the reliability is more important than anything so I think it’s important to pass through all the issues. Maybe what we had today was not nice because we lost one day but it’s important to understand.”

“To be honest there’s still some understanding for us [to achieve]. The mileage is very important for the so few days we have for testing. You have so many things that we need to understand and learn about the fuel saving, how to drive the car in the race,” he explained.

“You need to understand about the tyres, that are a little harder [in compound] than last year. You need to understand if it’s too hard or not. The way of driving the car is something that is coming naturally. But mileage is important – it is important for all of us.

“Not just for the drivers but for the team as well, to get to the first race and be prepared, be ready. Maybe most of the teams they are not 100% ready now. Maybe the team that did more mileage was Mercedes, so maybe they are a little bit in front. But maybe they are still not 100% ready yet.

“We can have many surprises in the first races and we need to be ready to, if you have a surprise, we need to be inside that. For the moment it’s similar [to Jerez]. We have some little changes and we should have some new parts more next week. At the end of next week the car should be more or less not far away from how it’s going to be in Australia.”

Massa makes way for Valterri Bottas on day two of testing in Bahrain, and will take over the cockpit again on Friday.

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Pic chosen by Lotus to be Reserve Driver

Lotus have confirmed former Caterham and Marussia driver Charles Pic as their third driver for the 2014 season.

The 24-year-old Frenchman, who has 39 Grand Prix starts to his name, will conduct simulator work at the Enstone squad’s factory, whilst also providing support at races.

“I am very excited to join a top team and Lotus F1 Team have certainly shown that they are a top team in this sport,” said Pic, who will back up Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado this year.

“It’s a great honour for me and I will be working hard to give my best to the team throughout 2014. Obviously, the big change is that I won’t be racing in Formula One, but I will be at the races and working in meetings which will help me develop and progress as a driver.

“In terms of resources Lotus F1 Team have a fantastic facility at Enstone and the people there have experience of winning Championships. I will be spending a lot of time with the squad and I expect to learn a lot from them.”

Joining Pic at Lotus is 23-year-old Dane Marco Sorensen, who will act as a reserve and development driver alongside Nicolas Prost.

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Ferrari: We are not yet at the point where we can concentrate on performance

Second day of testing for Scuderia Ferrari and the last one for Fernando Alonso who tomorrow hands over the wheel of the F14 T to team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

• Circuit: Sakhir circuit – 5.412 km
  
• Driver: Fernando Alonso
  
• Car: Ferrari F14 T
  
• Weather: air temperature 21/26°C, track temperature 22/30 °C. Sunny.
  
• Laps/Kms completed: 97/525
  
• Best time: 1:36.516
  

Fernando and the team got through a lot of work, starting this morning with some aerodynamic tests, followed by detailed evaluation of adjustments made to all the operating systems linked to the power unit, including energy recovery and release.

Attention also centred on testing the balance of the F14 T, doing short and long runs with the various tyre compounds supplied by Pirelli.

Fernando completed a total of 97 laps, the quickest in a time of 1:36.516. Over the two days on track, he covered 161 laps and 872 kilometres.

“We are not yet at the point where we can concentrate on performance, but the important thing is to continue to rack up kilometres” – said Fernando to www.ferrari.com –

“The team has done a great job of preparation over the winter for these tests, which has allowed us to do a lot of running and test all aspects linked to these new and complex technologies. At the moment, everything is going as we expected, but there are still a lot of new elements to learn about. Teams and drivers both have little time available and it will be a very big challenge for everyone to be ready when we get to Melbourne.

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Judge dismisses claim against Ecclestone but says the F1 boss did pay bribe

A British judge dismissed on Thursday a claim for damages brought by a German firm against Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone over his involvement in the 2005 sale of a stake in the motor racing business.

However, in an element of the ruling that is damaging to Ecclestone, Judge Guy Newey said the 83-year-old had paid a bribe to former BayernLB banker Gerhard Gribkowsky as part of a “corrupt agreement”.

“The payments were a bribe. They were made because Mr Ecclestone had entered into a corrupt agreement with Dr Gribkowsky in May 2005 under which Dr Gribkowsky was to be rewarded for facilitating the sale of BLB’s shares in the Formula One group to a buyer acceptable to Mr Ecclestone,” the High Court judge wrote in his conclusions.

German company Constantin Medien EV4G.DE had alleged that one of the aims of the “corrupt bargain” was to undervalue Formula One and favour the sale of a controlling stake to private equity fund CVC – and that as a result of the undervaluation, Constantin had lost out on its rightful share of the deal.

Judge Newey said it was “no part of Mr Ecclestone’s purpose” to undervalue the BayernLB stake, and therefore Constantin’s claim for damages was dismissed.

Ecclestone is due to stand trial in Munich in April on charges of bribing Gribkowsky.

A Munich court in 2012 jailed Gribkowsky for tax evasion and bribery for taking a $44 million payment from Ecclestone and his family trust after the sale.

Ecclestone has repeatedly said the payment had nothing to do with the CVC deal and that he was the victim of coercion by Gribkowksy who was threatening to make false claims about his tax status.

He denies wrongdoing and says he will fight to clear his name in Germany.

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Red Bull could lose title sponsor Infiniti

Red Bull could be set to lose their major title sponsor Infiniti.

Just as theWorld Champion team is faltering on the pre-season test circuits, Sport Bild reports that luxury Nissan brand Infiniti does not intend to renew its Red Bull deal beyond 2015.

Reports estimate the value of the deal, involving team naming rights and a conspicuous purple presence on the Red Bull livery, at €40 million per year.

It is believed that Infiniti is baulking because it wanted to move beyond merely being a financial partner to the top Formula 1 team.

“We know that Infiniti had hopes for a greater technical cooperation,” Red Bull’s Helmut Marko acknowledged.

Former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger, a close confidante of team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, commented: “If anyone can overcome the loss of a sponsor, it is Red Bull.”

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Berger not surprised by strong start of Mercedes

Gerhard Berger, who is known to be close to Red Bull’s inner circle, has admitted that Mercedes is heading into the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship season as the favourite.

World Champions Red Bull, powered by Renault, are in the midst of a technical crisis with the new RB10 car, while Mercedes has got off to a flying start in the revolutionary new V6 era.

“I am not surprised that Mercedes has built the best engine,” former Formula 1 driver and Austrian Berger, who during the last decade co-owned the Toro Rosso team with Red Bull, told Germany’s Sport Bild.

He predicted that 2014 would ultimately be a “struggle between the genius of Adrian Newey and Sebastian Vettel against Mercedes technology”.

However, Berger sees a glimmer of hope for Red Bull.

“In 1989 at Ferrari we managed three laps in the pre-season but my teammate Nigel Mansell won the first race,” he said.

But as far as Lewis Hamilton is concerned, Mercedes’ pre-season is going smoothly.

“It’s very difficult to know where we are in terms of performance,” the Briton said in Bahrain on Wednesday, “but in terms of reliability we are in front.”

When asked about Mercedes’ apparent dominance in 2014 so far, however, RenaultSportF1′s engineering chief Remi Taffin did not want to comment.

“It would be a waste of time to be looking at what they’re doing now,” he is quoted by Italiaracing.

“If we are in a position to beat them, then we will look at them,” he added.

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Magnussen: A dream every time I get in the car, so cool to be here and to be driving

McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen is enjoying a perfect induction into Formula 1, impressing each time he does stints in the MP4-29 and showing a handy turn of speed in the process, while enjoying every moment of his rookie days.

Speaking after setting the fastest lap on the second day of testing in Bahrain, Magnussen revealed, “It’s a dream every time I get in the car. It’s just so cool to be here and to be driving. I’m really enjoying it.”

Teething problems with the all new power units afflict all the teams, the Dane had his share on Thursday, “Unfortunately, we didn’t get too many laps done this morning, but it was good to get some laps done at the end of the day. The afternoon was good for us, and we worked through our problems.”

After he set a lap time [Thursday] that compared favourably with last year’s qualifyng times, Magnussen and, in fact, the Formula 1 world is starting to warm to the new turbo era.

Magnussen revealed, “It really is a drivers’ car – more than the old ones. With the blown diffuser [on previous generation cars] it became a little bit easy and on new tyres you were very much relying on the car and the setup and the balance. This year it’s more of a drivers’ car and I think that’s great.”

“It’s still going to be impossible to win in a car that is not able to win, but it’s Formula One and it’s man and machine and the drivers can make a bigger difference. It’s a bit more difficult with more torque but I think that’s quite obvious. With more torque it’s going to be more tricky and you need more skill and sensitivity with the throttle,” ventured the McLaren rookie

Magnussen’s best time of 1.34.910 was 2.5 seconds down on pole in Bahrain last year, and this in only the sixth day of real world running for the new power units suggest there is still a lot more in the turbo power units. But this did not come as a big surprise to the rookie.

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised. I think we will go quicker than that and it’s possible to go quicker than that. It won’t take too long for this year’s cars to quicker than the old ones. From now until Australia we will hopefully improve the car. We are in a good place but we still need to work very hard. But it’s not looking too bad.”

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Ecclestone predicts that Formula E will make a few quid then collapse

Organisers of the new Formula E series can expect to make some quick money and then see the concept collapse, according to Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone, who despite the involvement of several well-known figures, teams and drivers, thinks that the FIA category involving near-silent electric-powered single seaters racing in cities including Los Angeles, Berlin and London is ultimately doomed to fail.

“For [the organisers] it’s a commercial thing,” Ecclestone told Zone One Radio. “One or two of them are going to make a few quid and that will be the end of it,” the 83-year-old Briton told interviewer Matthew Layton at the recent Zoom photographic charity auction.

“I can’t see it ever working. I know how much it costs to put a street race together,” Ecclestone said.

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Kobayashi: Times don't mean anything

Kamui Kobayashi says it was "good" to unlock some of his Caterham's performance even if his P6 time doesn't count for much.

Although a telemetry issue caused problems for the Japanese driver in the morning on Day Two in Bahrain, for the second day running Caterham were the busiest of the Renault powered teams.

Covering 66 laps, Kobayashi put in a very late dash to jump from tenth to sixth on the timesheets.

His 1:39.855 was, however, 4.945s short of Kevin Magnussen's P1 time in the McLaren.

"It was good to be back in the car and even though we had quite a few interruptions in the morning with a telemetry issue, we still completed 66 laps which is another useful day's work," he said.

"It's still too early to know where we really are, but being able to build the mileage every day is the only way we'll be able to get the most out of the car.

"Reliability is going to be so important this year, and it's good that the issues we've had here have been fixed well enough to allow us to keep running.

"It's also good to finish the day with a relatively quicker lap, but even though everyone knows lap times don't really mean anything in the tests, it's good for the team to start to see us unlocking some of the car's performance."

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LOTUS CONFIRM RENAULT DEAL FOR 2014 and BEYOND

Lotus this morning confirmed that it will continue to use Renault power for “2014 and beyond”.

“Lotus F1 Team and Renault Sport F1 have enjoyed a successful partnership these past few years and we look forward to continue to build on our relationship and collaboration in 2014 and beyond. It is the beginning of a new era in Formula 1 and we are pleased to embrace it together with Renault Sport F1,” said Lotus CEO Matthew Carter.

The deal, which according to a BBC report is for five seasons, continues a partnership begun when Genii Capital bought a majority stake in the Renault team in 2009 and then following the investment company’s 100% acquisition of the team in 2010.

Renault Sport F1 President Jean-Michel Jalinier added that the announcement had been timed to coincide with the public debut of the E22 this week, though the car had run with the new Renault power unit at a shakedown test in Jerez recently.

“We are pleased to see our partnership officially confirmed as the E22 takes to the track for its first official test,” said Jalinier.

“The relationship between Viry and Enstone has gone from strength to strength over the past few years. This is illustrated in no better way than the excellent – and very close – collaboration on the 2014 car, which is more technically complex than any previous designs. We hope this spirit will pay dividends on track this season and going forward into the new F1 technical era.”

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Vergne: We are facing major problems but we need to keep calm and not get stressed

Toro Rosso driver Jean Eric Vergne is the first of the Renault powered drivers to come out in public and admit that the French Power Unit has major problems and that it is pointless trying to hide the dire situation.

Speaking to the media after yet another frustrating day for the Faenza based outfit, Vergne said, “There’s no point in making negative comments, because everyone knows we are facing major problems and we are not alone in that. We knew when we came to Bahrain that there had not been enough time since the previous test to have solved all our issues.”

Vergne finished the final day of the second test, in Bahrain, eighth fastest with a best time of 1.40.472 which was a huge 7.189 seconds down on the best time of the day set by Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. Vergne could only manage 19 laps, compared to 89 which was the maximum on the day.

“On the positive side, we have managed to fix some [problems] now. Also, even if I have not done so many laps, it’s clear from those which I have managed to complete, that Toro Rosso has done a good job to give me a car that feels nice to drive, if we talk about the elements that used to be the main topics before this year, such as the aero and mechanical side of the package,” said the Frenchman.

“It’s frustrating, but we need to keep calm and not get stressed as there are still a few weeks before Melbourne. We will try again here in Bahrain starting on Thursday. Clearly, in Melbourne, just finishing the race will mean you have a good chance of scoring points,” predicted Vergne.

Sister team, World Champions Red Bull were also plagued by problems, running at a similar pace to the ‘junior’ team.

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Renault: We are not back on schedule but we are moving in the right direction

Renault have delivered their customers a dud of a new generation V6 turbo Formula 1 engine, and as a result World Champions Red Bull, as well as Lotus, Caterham and Toro Rosso are on the back foot long with the new season looming fast. No doubt it is all hands on deck in Viry-Chatillon to get on top of this crisis as Rob White, Renault Sport F1 deputy managing director (technical), sheds some light on the situation.

What were the key steps taken between Jerez and Bahrain ?

We made a number of specification changes to the Energy Store [battery], involving modified hardware, requiring some gymnastics in engineering, procurement, assembly and logistics. We also introduced two levels of PU (Power Unit) control system software updates; the first being effectively what would have been a decent starting point for Jerez. It eliminated some bugs that allowed us to make mapping and calibration corrections, which subsequently allowed us to operate the cars in a more robust way to gather mileage. The second layer of software changes had more functionality to allow a greater authority to the control systems, giving better performance and drive-ability, and a larger degree of Power Unit systems integration. All the cars started on the first route and all four cars migrated to the second solution as we gathered mileage.

How has the test in Bahrain gone this week?

We have had some set-backs, but we have definitely made progress and have taken several steps forward. The changes have improved the PU behaviour in the car and we are have accumulated valuable mileage. There have been stoppages, on our side and on the chassis side as well, but we have ironed out some important faults and allowed the teams to gain crucial experience of the car as a whole. We have seen that minor incidents can cause downtime that is difficult or impossible to recover. In particular, we lost more time than anticipated on the final day. While we are not at the level of operation and performance we would want to be, we have a more solid basis to work from, and we are moving in the right direction.

Would you say you are back on schedule?

We have made some good headway, in terms of PU performance and operation in the car, we are now in a situation we could have accepted mid-Jerez. We have solved some problems and revealed some others. We are not back on schedule but we are moving in the right direction – the running we have done is very valuable. The challenge is to improve the rate of progress, because the gap to where we wanted to be at this stage remains substantial. We are some weeks behind where we wanted to be, and we acknowledge that it will take time to unlock the full performance of the PU. We are working hard to get there and we are determined to succeed. We remain confident in the PU and its sub systems, we are just not at the level of operation and performance we want to be. The immaturity of the PU combined with the time lost to incidents, means the chassis work to prepare for the season is also behind schedule. From this point on we must pursue and accelerate an upward curve.

What is the plan in the short break between tests?

We run again in Bahrain at the end of next week. The homologation deadline is looming, the race engines for Melbourne are in the early stages of build. There is a huge amount of work in progress. The Viry team is working night and day to solve our problems.

The collaboration with our teams is closer than ever. The rate of development is extremely rapid, away from the track, and that we can create and validate effective solutions very quickly shows the resolve and tenacity of all our team members. We now have a list of issues from this test that we will address. There are of course priority calls to sort out the most important ones from the background [issues], but we will come back stronger at the next test and continue to learn about the Power Unit and prepare for Melbourne.

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Bahrain Day 4: Mercedes on a high as Rosberg ends test fastest of all

If there were any doubts that Mercedes have a significant edge over their rivals, after the final day of testing in Bahrain, those doubts will surely have been swept aside as Nico Rosberg scorched around the desert venue to comfortably set the fastest time of all, in this second, penultimate stanza of Formula 1 tests before the start of the season.

Rosberg’s time of 1.33.283 was a full second up on teammate Lewis Hamilton’s best of 24 hours earlier, and 1.6 seconds up on the next best on the final day, which was set by Jenson Button in the McLaren.

Last year in FP3 at the same venue Fernando Alonso was quickest with a best time of 1:33.247 at the wheel of the V8 normally aspirated Ferrari, which is a tad up on Rosberg’s best of the day in the V6 turbo. Pole last year was 1:32.330, set by Rosberg.

With only eight days of real world running the new generation V6 turbo Power Units are almost on par with their normally aspirated V8 predecessors, suggesting that when teams get a full handle on these engines and related systems the new generation Formula 1 cars will be quick.

Rosberg set his best time in the W05 on the Soft Pirelli tyres during the morning session, and went on to rack up 89 laps – a Mercedes powered car has set the fastest lap in all eight pres-eason test sessions to date. The only hiccups in the Silver Arrows programme were two stoppages during the course of the day.

“It’s been a good day,” the German told the BBC. “We were doing lower-fuel stuff in the morning, really getting into the quali rhythm and finding a balance for that. That was working well. I felt comfortable in the car – it’s important for me to feel at home, that everything is to my liking. I was really able to push it, which was cool, a good feeling.

Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest but crashed the Ferrari F14T

Second fastest was Button, and McLaren could probably lay claim to being next up in the pecking order as both the 2009 World Champion and rookie Kevin Magnussen have appeared comfortable, and fast all week, in the MP4-29.

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a fruitful day at the wheel of the Ferrari, setting the third best time of the day with 82 laps on his board. But with five minutes to go in the day’s proceedings it all went pear shaped as he crashed into the barriers, damaging the front end of his F14T. A glance at the final lap times will show that the Finn was 3.4 seconds down on Rosberg’s best.

Not long after Williams announced that Felipe Nasr was appointed Test and Reserve Driver, the Brazilian found himself on duty in the cockpit of the FW36 and gave a good account of himself on the way to racking up 87 laps. He set the fourth best time, in what was a hasty debut no doubt ushered along by the Banco do Brasil sponsorship deal which was announced at the same time as Nasr’s confirmation.

Lotus had their best day of all thus far with Pastor Maldonado on duty in the E22, setting the fifth best time and doing 58 laps during the course of the day, and ending the test easily the fastest of the Renault powered contingent, albeit 5.4 seconds slower than Rosberg’s best.

Drive train problems severely curtailed Sergio Perez’s time in the cockpit of the Force India VJM07. He was slowest of the Mercedes powered brigade, only managing 15 laps altogether.

Red Bull’s problems with he RB10 continued. Daniel Ricciardo only managed 15 laps, the best of which was 6.5 seconds adrift of the top pace – in total the likable Australian only managed 43 laps during the course of his two days in the cockpit as a variety of issues continue to plague the World Champions, who are enduring what must be described as a nightmare start to their season.

Sister team Toro Rosso were also hampered by technical problems, Jean Eric Vergne managing only 19 laps on his way to setting the eighth best time.

Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson shared driving duties on the final day, but problems cut short any meaningful running for the team.

Ferrari powered teams Sauber and Marussia were anchored to the bottom of the timing screens because neither Adrian Sutil or Jules Bianchi managed to do any meaningful timed laps, as they too were plagued with problems on the day.

The teams now remain ensconced at Bahrain International Circuit until Thursday, 27 February when the final four day pre-season test will begin, while back at the respective factories work will continue at a feverish pace, with all teams shipping in a raft of development parts for the third and final test ahead of the season opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

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Horner: You’d have to say that Mercedes are favourites and that we are on the backfoot

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has given an honest assessment of the current state of play in Formula 1, admitting that the World Champions are on the back foot and pointing to Mercedes as pre-season favourites.

Horner told Sky Sports, “You’d have to say that Mercedes are the favourites, or that Mercedes-powered teams are absolutely the favourites. We are on the backfoot, but it’s a long year, a tough Championship and it’s not all won in winter testing.”

Testing has been problem packed for the F1 World Champions as the aggressive aero packaging of the Adrian Newey penned RB10 has not sat well with the all new Renault V6 turbo Power Unit and related sundries. Overheating is a major problem which severely curtailed their running in Spain last month.

Despite claims that the heating issues are resolved, the team has picked up other problems during the Bahrain test, which has given them more running but nowhere as much as the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren. And crucially they have not been able to unleash any kind of pace that would even trouble the slowest of the Mercedes powered outfits.

“It’s obviously not where we wanted to be, but it’s where we are and it’s a question of just getting on with it,” said Horner, who watched as the team were forced to pack up early on day three of testing in Bahrain.

Red Bull’s Race Engineering Co-ordinator Andy Damerum attributed Friday’s problems to a mechanical issue which he was adamant was not related to earlier problems experienced by the team, “These issues are of course frustrating but this was unrelated to the others so it’s just a case of tackling each issue as it appears.”

The Red Bull boss was quick to dispell speculation that cracks in the relationship with Renault were starting to appear as a result of these episodes, “We are on the backfoot, we would have liked more miles under our belts, but the collaboration we have with Renault is extremely strong. All of our grand prix wins have come with Renault power and there’s a great working relationship between the teams.”

After his two day stint in Bahrain Sebastian Vettel said, “It’s not easy to find a quick fix, but I think we understand the problems. However, very often you fix one problem and another pops up, which is what has happened.”

Daniel Ricciardo will be back in the RB10 cockpit for the fourth and final day of testing on Saturday.

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Williams: We can now start to push on performance

Williams team reports on the fourth and final day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit.

• Driver: Felipe Nasr
  
• Chassis / Engine: FW36-02 / PU106A Hybrid
  
• Location: Bahrain International Circuit 5.412 km
  
• Objectives: Reliability, aero evaluations and mileage for Nasr
  
• Weather: Hot and Sunny
  
• Maximum air & track temps: 26 ºC / 37 ºC
  

Rod Nelson, Chief Test & Support Engineer: We had Felipe Nasr in the car today. He did a very good job for us. We were keen for him to get some experience of the FW36 under his belt as it’s important that he gets up to speed quickly so he can help us with the development of the car. He had a very sensible measured approach so we are happy with what we have seen so far. He gives good feedback, works well with his engineers and is also quick, and so we couldn’t ask for more and are also looking forward to running him at some races this season. Once again, were it not for the red flags we would have clocked up over 100 laps for the third day running, so that is a further positive. Overall, it has been a successful test covering most of our reliability work. We can now start to push on performance all the way up to Melbourne.

Felipe Nasr: I am very happy to have driven a Formula 1 car for the first time, and reaching 87 laps made it also a very productive day. There were so many things going through my head before sitting in the car. It was what I was expecting though: very different to any other car I have ever driven with the amount of downforce, brake efficiency and the power. It was a learning process for me, but I was giving feedback to the engineers all day and I think we found some good things. I’m so pleased to have had this opportunity and I am now looking forward to the next time.

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McLaren: We completed more than 1600 km of largely trouble-free running

The fourth and final day of the first of two Bahrain pre-season tests. Jenson Button was again at the wheel for McLaren Mercedes, completing 66 laps as the team worked through a suite of set-up changes.

This week’s test enabled the team to develop and refine areas of investigation that were initiated at the Jerez test earlier this month.

This week’s run data will feed into next week’s test, also in Bahrain, when the team will update and run the MP4-29 in the specification intended for the season-opener in Melbourne.

Equally importantly, the team completed more than 1600 km of largely trouble-free running – an encouraging figure given the important role that reliability will likely play in the opening races.

What’s next?

Jenson and Kevin remain in Bahrain ahead of next week’s final winter test, which runs from Thursday to Sunday

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Williams and Banco do Brasil announce new partnership

Williams (Ticker: WGF1) is pleased to announce a new partnership agreement with Banco do Brasil, Brazil’s largest financial institution.

The Banco do Brasil logo will appear on the engine cover of the Williams Mercedes FW36, the overalls worn by each driver, and the kit worn by team personnel during the 2014 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

Founded in 1808, Banco do Brasil is the largest bank in Latin America with assets that exceed R$1.3 trillion (500 billions Euros). The bank has a presence in 99.9% of all Brazilian cities with agreements with 1,162 other financial institutions in 134 nations to help more than 61 million customers worldwide. It provides a full range of banking services in sectors of the capital market, asset management, insurance, pensions, annuity and payment methods.

Aldemir Bendini, President of the Bank of Brazil, believes that the partnership with Williams will enhance the image of the Brazilian bank, which traditionally invests in sports, and increase its ties with its clients; “The project will strengthen the position of the Banco do Brasil brand across the world through a sport that broadcasts to 185 countries, and has, in Brazil, an enthusiastic and captive audience.”

Speaking about the new partnership Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal of Williams, added; “We have had a long and proud association with Brazil through our relationship with Brazilian drivers and some of the country’s leading companies. This new partnership with Banco do Brasil continues this legacy and we both share a proud history with ambitions to achieve greater things in the future. This partnership will help both of our companies achieve those goals and we look forward to working closely with them this season.”

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Maldonado: Working very hard to be one of the best and fighting for wins

Press Release:

After three seasons in Formula 1, Pastor Maldonado comes to Lotus F1 Team with the objective of being one of the best and fighting for wins.

How excited are you about kicking off the new season with Lotus F1 Team?

It’s great to start the season with Lotus F1 Team. For me it’s something very special, and it’s part of the big transition of progressing in Formula 1. After three years in one team, it will now be my fourth season at a higher level, and I’m very happy to part of this fantastic team. Lotus F1 Team have been very successful in the past, been competitive on track and have won a lot of races. We’re working very hard to again be one of the best and fighting for wins.

You have 58 Grands Prix starts under your belt; what experience can you bring to the team?

I’ve been learning a lot, especially in the first two years. I don’t count last year as it was so difficult, but even in the difficult times you can learn a lot and I’ve used all of that as an experience and I feel ready to get back to the top. In the past I’ve been quite good in my last team, and maybe here I will get extra power to be more consistent and I think together we can make a very strong team.

You already know Romain Grosjean, are you looking forward to working together?

I know Romain from some years ago, he’s a good guy. He’s a great driver and we’ve competed in the lower categories together.

We’ve both always been at the top so I’m really looking forward to working with him. I think we are both real fighters on track, so I hope we can both do our best for the team.

How different do you expect the racing will be with such big regulation changes?

The difference we see from last year to 2014 is huge, and it will have a huge influence in terms of racing, and racing style. I think the drivers, together with the team, must work a lot to adapt to this new style of racing. We’ve been working in the simulator for a while and I feel optimistic. Let’s go for it!

What do you think of the E22?

The E22 is just amazing, I think it’s the most revolutionary car in the paddock. The car looks great, it’s a combination between the new technology and many other new ideas. It’s pretty special to see the nose like that – I’ve never seen something like that in the past! It’s something completely new for Formula 1, and we’re fully confident with this solution. I can’t wait to be in the car and try it out on track.

What are your targets and objectives for 2014?

The season ahead is really a big question mark. We need to start with great expectations, we need to do our best from the beginning. For sure it will be quite hard, for all the teams and all the drivers, with the new regulations but we’re really looking forward to fight for the best, and to fight for the Championship.

Why the number 13?

The reason I choose the number 13 is just because I like it. In Venezuela it is not an unlucky number and it actually has a long history in Venezuelan sport.

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Rosberg: We’re quicker on the straights and slower in the corners

Nico Rosberg ended the final day of Bahrain testing on Saturday fastest of all in the Mercedes W05, but was quick to downplay the achievement by revealing that the time was done on a low qualifying-style fuel run.

Rosberg told the media at the end of day four, “We were doing some qualifying-style runs and for sure the other guys didn’t take as much fuel out as we did, which explains the gaps. It’s impossible to know what the other people were doing with so many tyres here as well. The feeling is positive and it’s looking quite good, even on pace, but I don’t want to say more than that.”

Rosberg’s best time of 1.33.283 set in the morning was 1.6 seconds up on the next best on the day, and mighty close to the times set during last year’s Bahrain GP weekend.

“It’s positive at the moment, and in terms of reliability I managed to complete the race distance today and that’s good. Nevertheless, the car did break afterwards so there is still some way to go. Problems are arising here and there, which is totally normal.”

“I think in comparison to other teams we are good in terms of reliability. But we need to be 100% bulletproof by the time we get Melbourne, which is a massive challenge,” mused the German.

Much has been said of how the all new V6 turbo generation cars require more input from drivers than the previous generation.

Rosberg revealed, “We’re quicker on the straights and slower in the corners. There’s a lot less grip in the corners, so [there is] more sliding and that’s the main thing. You can feel that, the loss in downforce.”

“We can be very pleased with the first test in Bahrain this week. We completed a lot of mileage and learnt more about the car with every lap we did. We did a race simulation, which was crucial to learn all the new things in the car.”

“There was a lot of feedback from the engineers, so my head was full of information!”concluded Rosberg.

The third and final Formula 1 pre-season test also takes place in Bahrain, starting on Thursday morning, 27 February.

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Pirelli: The 2014 tyres more consistent and durable than their predecessors

Formula 1 teams have been able to complete more testing distance with Pirelli’s new 2014 range of tyres in Bahrain, as they begin to get a better picture of how the latest tyres interact with the radically different new cars.

A number of teams were able to complete race simulations, as well as qualifying session simulations and pit stop practices, assessing every aspect of tyre usage. Weather conditions remained dry and warm, in the region of 20 degrees centigrade or higher: temperatures that are much more representative of the season as a whole.

In accordance with the nominations they had made in advance, the teams were able to try out the entire 2014 range of P Zero tyres in Bahrain, as well as a special ‘winter’ hard compound, with a faster warm-up cycle.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “The teams were able to learn more about tyres over the four days in Bahrain than they could in Jerez two weeks ago, thanks to increased running time and optimal weather conditions. Although the teams are still at a comparatively early point on the development curve with their new cars, testing data so far indicates that the 2014 tyres are more consistent and durable than their predecessors.”

“As a result, we are also seeing fewer ‘marbles’ on the circuit: one of our objectives at the start of this season. However, teams are likely to improve their performance and understanding of the car / tyre package still further in the test to come, which means that the lap time differences we have been seeing between the compounds are likely to come down: especially when the teams discover more downforce as the season goes on.”

“We’ve collected plenty of useful data from this test, but of course we are still ready and able to change the specification of the tyres for the start of the season if this is shown to be necessary.”

Bahrain Testing Facts:

• Teams ramped up their distance considerably over the four days of the test. In total, 482 laps were completed on the first day of the test, with 676 laps on day two, 695 laps on day three and 469 laps on day four.
  
• Teams had a maximum of 30 sets of tyres per car to test in Bahrain. Pirelli, in conjunction with the teams, chose 22 of those sets (plus an extra Medium ‘prototype’ set – used to test the performance of tyres without tyre warmers, which is part of the 2015 regulations). The teams were then able to choose in advance the remaining eight sets, up to their maximum permitted total of 30. In total, 135 sets of tyres are allowed per team for testing purposes throughout 2014.
  
• The performance differences in Bahrain between the compounds so far are approximately as follows: the Super-soft is around 0.7s per lap faster than the soft, the Soft is around 1.2s per lap quicker than the Medium, and the medium is around 1.3s per lap quicker than the Hard. These gaps should come down considerably as the cars evolve.
  
• A total of 24 drivers took part in the Bahrain test, completing 2,322 laps and 12,566 kilometres. Last year, the second test of the year took place in Barcelona, over exactly the same four-day period, during which the drivers completed 16,006 kilometres.
  
• The total testing distance completed so far this year, combining Jerez and Bahrain is 3,792 laps and 19,074 kilometres. This time last year, the teams had completed 6,970 laps and 31,640 kilometres of pre-season testing (Jerez and Barcelona 2013 combined).
  
• Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the Bahrain test, with a time of 1m33.283s on Saturday with the P Zero Yellow Soft. By way of comparison, the fastest race lap at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year was 1m36.961s, set by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year was 1m32.330s: within a second of Rosberg’s fastest test time today. At the Bahrain race last year, pole was also set by Rosberg.
  
• The highest number of total laps completed at this year’s Bahrain test by any one driver was 174 laps, from Nico Rosberg (Mercedes). Williams driver Valtteri Bottas set the second-highest total, 171 laps.
  

Total number of tyre sets brought to Bahrain: 341 sets which equals 1,364 tyres

• of which Supersoft tyres: 14 sets
  
• of which Soft tyres: 61 sets
  
• of which Medium tyres: 139 sets
  
• of which Hard tyres: 94 sets
  
• of which ‘Winter’ Hard tyres: 28 sets
  
• of which Intermediate tyres: 3 sets
  
• of which Wet tyres: 2 sets
  

Total amount of tyre sets used: 199

• of which Super-soft tyres: 5 sets
  
• of which Soft tyres: 37 sets
  
• of which Medium tyres: 89 sets
  
• of which Hard tyres: 51 sets
  
• of which ‘Winter’ tyres: 17 sets
  
• of which Intermediate tyres: 0 sets
  
• of which Wet tyres: 0 sets
  

Longest run on tyre sets:

• 16 laps on the Super-soft compound
  
• 16 laps of the Soft compound
  
• 22 laps on the Medium compound
  
• 22 laps on the Hard compound
  
• 9 laps on the ‘Winter’ compound
  
• 0 laps on the Intermediate compound
  
• 0 laps on the Wet compound
  

Highest / lowest ambient temperature over four days: 27 °C / 17 °C

Highest / lowest track temperature over four days: 37 °C / 18 °C

[MIKA27]

Ferrari says problems with 2014 F1 cars take twice as long to fix

Ferrari believes that problems on the 2014 breed of Formula 1 cars currently take twice as long to fix as was the case last year.

During pre-season testing all of the F1 teams have suffered long delays due to work needing to be carried out on cars.

Ferrari's problems on the third day in Bahrain, where it lost several hours working to fix a telemetry problem, was an example of a team having to spend a long time fixing an issue that would have been far more straightforward on the previous generation of car.

The team's engineering director Pat Fry said: "The cars are so complicated, it takes a while to get in and find the problems.

"It's harder getting to the bits you need to change than changing the bits themselves. I guess there's a certain level of familiarity with what we had in the past.

"I would have thought the things that have set us back and cost us four hours would have taken half the time, at a guess."

Fry believes that the length of time some repairs have taken so far in pre-season have exaggerated the reliability issues caused by the new rules for 2014.

"Once you've got the car running, quite a few people have proven that they're actually quite reliable," he said.

"It's getting it to the point where it is ready to do that that is the challenge. But that will come."

COMPLEX PACKAGING

All teams have been encountering these kinds of problems, with fellow Ferrari-powered team Marussia spending most of the Bahrain test working on the car in the garage.

"When you see the car with the engine cover off, it is just so complex," team principal John Booth told AUTOSPORT.

"To get to anything is difficult and requires removing three or four other bits just to get at what you want to. That's just what is required in terms of packaging."

An engine change wiped out almost an entire day of running for Marussia, and although Booth expects this aspect to speed up, solving smaller problems will remain time consuming.

With just two hours between Saturday morning practice and qualifying on race weekends, this could lead to some cars not being able to run in the afternoon if they encounter a problem in the earlier session.

"Things like engine changes will come down in time, although it won't be quick as the old Cosworths," said Booth.

"Because of a shortage of spares, we didn't have an engine dressed here and dressing an engine takes 10 times longer than changing it.

"When we get to Melbourne, we will have engines dressed ready to slide in. "But if you get an electrical problem buried deep down in your engine bay, it's going to be nip and tuck."

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Ferrari: For the last four days we will operate the car the way it will run in a race

Scuderia Ferrari’s path to the start of the 2014 Formula 1 season has now reached two thirds distance. Eight of the twelve test days available are now archived, but there is still a raft of things to understand and perfect given the host of changes this season.

The Scuderia’s Technical Director, James Allison summed up what was achieved in Bahrain. “We came to Sakhir aiming to work steadily through the huge list of actions that we must complete. We wanted to maximize track time, working methodically in order to be ready for Melbourne. I have to say that, with the exception of the morning of the third day, we did just that.”

The team has carried on with its technical programme and continued working on fine tuning all of the innovative elements of the F14T.

“We worked on learning how to get the best from the 2014 clutch system and on tuning the new brake by wire system. We looked in detail at balancing the temperature of all the cooling fluids, a key part of this year’s rules, and we began gradually expanding the operating window of the new Energy Recovery System.”

“We have been able to start to open up our understanding of the handling characteristics of the car and to begin to learn what sort of setup parameters the tyres respond to. Continuing with this work will be an important part of the programme over the last four days here in Bahrain.”

It’s clear from Allison’s comments just how important reliability will be in 2014. Scuderia Ferrari has being working on this aspect of performance up until now and will continue to do so in the final test session, which will also feature some more demanding tests.

Allison explained, “For the last four days, our programme will see us attempt to operate the car ever more closely to the way that it will run in a race, providing invaluable practice for the drivers and subjecting the car and all its systems to the full rigor that it will need to withstand throughout the season.”

Testing resumes in Bahrain on Thursday 27 February and will run to Sunday 2 March. After that, the next time the cars will see a race track will be 14 March, for Friday Free Practice at the Australian Grand Prix, when things start getting really serious.

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Raikkonen: We will see exactly where we are at the first race

Kimi Raikkonen is well into his second tenure with Ferrari, and after his two day stint in Bahrain the Finn admits that he does really know how things stand in terms of pecking order.

Raikkonen spoke to the media at the end of the final day in Bahrain, ”We will see exactly where we are at the first race. I think that they are not too bad really,” he added. “Obviously there are a lot of things to do still, but I can only look at our own situation – we don’t know what the others are doing and are not really interested in that at present.”

The buzzword in the paddock is reliability as the all new V6 turbo engine and sundries are complicated systems. Predictions that are that merely finishing the race in Melbourne may well be enough to score points.

“The reliability aspect has been okay for us, but speed wise I don’t know where we are, but we will keep doing our work and hopefully find out we are more or less where we should be. I think it is pretty okay right now, but for sure we want to improve things and there is still a long way to go before the seaso,” said the 2007 F1 World Champion.

With five minutes left on the clock, at the very end of the final day in Bahrain, Raikkonen slammed the bariers in Turn 4, damaging the front end of his Ferrari F14T.

But the episode did not faze the Iceman who summed it up in typical fashion, “I spun, hit the wall and that is it.”

“You always want more laps, but we didn’t have any problems and then I damaged the car with the crash. There were a lot of red flags, but we did more or less what we wanted to do. We could do long runs, but the plan was to do something else,” revealed Raikkonen.

Last year Raikkonen missed the final two races of the season to attend to a recurring back injury which he incurred early on in his career. Asked how he felt physically after two days in the car Raikkonen said, “It has been okay since I had the operation and hopefully it stays like that.

“With these things you never know, it has been there for a long time and some days it is good and the next day it might not be. It is one of those things, but it has been much, much better,” he added.