FORMULA 1 - 2014

[MIKA27]

Sauber: We were able to really get into race weekend procedures

It was a good day of testing for the Sauber F1 Team. The priorities today were aero tests and practice of race weekend procedures. Esteban Gutiérrez completed several short runs in the morning and race simulations in the afternoon. Overall he completed a total of 106 laps.

• Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit / 5.412 km
  
• Driver: Esteban Gutiérrez
  
• Weather: Sunny to partly cloudy, air 23-28 °C, track 27-37 °C
  
• Chassis / engine: C33-01 / Ferrari
  
• Laps today: 106 laps, 573.672 km
  
• Fastest lap: 1:39.976
  

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “Today was a good day. We got through the programme smoothly. In the morning we were testing various aero maps and managed some race simulations in the afternoon. This means, in addition to the long runs yesterday, we are gaining more experience with the fuel management system. We covered a lot of race mileage and didn’t allocate many new tyre sets to the runs. We were able to really get into race weekend procedures. With a new car it’s always important to get the drivers and pit crew up to speed for the first race. This year it will be even more important to effectively manage all those routines, and we made progress in that regard today.”

Esteban Gutiérrez: “The mileage we covered today was great, and these were the most laps in one day for the team so far. From a reliability point of view, I think we are doing well so far. After some aero work this morning I was able to get into the long runs and race simulation. I also managed to get a feeling for different settings, including fuel saving, and that worked quite well. The pit crew and the engineers are working incredibly hard, and together we were able to get used to race weekend procedures.”

What comes next?

Each driver has one test day remaining before the team heads to the first Grand Prix of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship in Melbourne, Australia. Tomorrow Adrian Sutil will be driving the Sauber C33-Ferrari, with Gutiérrez taking over again for the final day of pre-season testing on Sunday.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull: We’re missing 165 horsepower to the leading Mercedes, about 30km/h on the straights!

Crisis-struck world champions, Red Bull are hoping to merely survive the fast approaching Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 2014 F1 World Championship season.

The reigning world champion team looked to have taken a step forward as the final pre-season test began on Thursday in Bahrain.

At the wheel of the troubled Renault-powered RB10, Daniel Ricciardo had a promising morning – until the latest technical problems left him stranded in the garage for most of the rest of the day.

Afterwards, the Australian was his usual upbeat self, ”From the outside, it looks like we are not doing many laps and that the times are not good.”

“But as a team we are confident that we will be with the frontrunners,” Ricciardo insisted.

“It is difficult to really predict what will happen, but we can say that we will not dominate in Melbourne as we did at the end of last season.”

Red Bull’s always-blunt Marko, however, sounded a less positive note, he told Sport Bild, “We have to somehow survive Melbourne.”

He said Renault’s troubled ‘power unit’ means that Red Bull is often missing 165 horse power to the leading Mercedes, “which is about 30km/h on the straights!

“That’s why we have sent a taskforce to France,” revealed Marko, referring to Renault’s Viry headquarters. ”Our people have just helped Renault write a new software programme.”

Renault says that it has made real progress, which is timely given the FIA’s looming engine development ‘freeze’ deadline of Friday.

“Yes, some problems we are yet to understand,” the French company’s Remi Taffin acknowledged in a recent interview.

“But over the past six years, approximately 95 per cent of the parts in the V8 engine were refined compared to the first version,” he said.

“We have made a big step forward between the first test and now with the new power unit. Yes we’re a little behind schedule, we still have certain problems, but they are gradually being resolved,” Taffin added.

[MIKA27]

Red Bull mocks reports claiming that Vettel had ‘a massive hissy fit in Jerez’

It is well known that Red Bull endured a torrid time at the first Formula 1 pre-season test at Jerez late last month, with the Adrian Newey penned RB10 doing very little running in Spain. As a result Sebastian Vettel’s stint on day two was severely curtailed – he did eight laps in total before the team decided to call it a day.

Vettel then immediately left the circuit and flew home. Since then speculation has been rife that Vettel was not happy with what he encountered on the first two days of the pre-season testing, and now a TV station has gone so far as to report that he threw a tantrum.

As a result of this report, Red Bull have gone on the offensive by posting a sarcastic response to the allegations of disruptions and heated discontent within their camp, penned by ‘the Red Bull Spy’:

“We do, however, get the opportunity to make our own entertainment, one avenue to which is reading some of the more lurid speculation that’s flying around. Our favourite today is the one about Seb apparently having a massive hissy fit in Jerez, refusing to drive the car because it wasn’t very good, and storming off in a huff.”

“A major news broadcaster posted the story this morning, along with the line: No-one outside the team knows whether it happened or not, and those on the inside wouldn’t say.”

Eh? Run that by me again?

“I suppose it could be true. Maybe four world championships really have turned him into a screaming primadonna. Perhaps what really happened is Seb leapt out of the car and started foaming at the mouth. He made a very rude gesture in the direction of Adrian, snarled at Rocky, kicked Ole in the spanners and then stormed out of the garage, saddled his unicorn and rode back to Switzerland.”

“Meanwhile Adrian’s lost his copy of the Illustrated Junior Encyclopaedia of Motorsport and says he can’t design without it. Daniel’s sulking is really starting to get everyone down, Dr Marko has decided to return to his roots and become a dubstep producer under his street name DJ Graz and, after his New York residency last summer, Christian’s far more interested in street art than F1 anyway.”

“Seb, meanwhile has sent us a postcard, and says he’s really sorry for all the fuss. He’ll be back soon but has decided to chill for a while by spending a couple of weeks watching daytime soaps and eating crisps ’round at Mark’s house.”

“Maybe that’s what happening. It’s certainly a rumour. No one outside the team knows for sure and those inside won’t say…”

‘The Spy’ also alluded to the team’s dismal pre-season testing fortunes:

“It won’t have escaped your notice that this hasn’t been our smoothest winter. The RB10 is a complicated beast and we’ve got a job list the length of the Shanghai back straight to get through. But we’re getting through it.”

“Everyone’s doing long hours and we’re all fairly knackered – though actually that’s no different to when the car’s spot-on. The team manager and the chief bolt both firmly believe the Devil makes work for idle hands. Unfortunately the long list of things they consider evidence of idleness includes sleeping and eating regular meals.”

Irrespective of what really happened it is quite clear that anger management by the Formula 1 world champions is a high priority as the situation is understandably explosive.

So much so that Helmut Marko told Bild that Vettel is “not amused that Red Bull is so far behind” with just four days of track running to go until Melbourne.

“But getting angry won’t bring us anything. Sebastian is always informed of any developments,” added the Austrian.

[MIKA27]

FOTA disbanded

The days of the Formula One Teams' Association are over, according to secretary general Oliver Weingarten.

Earlier this month a report emerged claiming that FOTA's days could be numbered.

The report in the Telegraph cited "substantial" financial problems and a weakening of FOTA following the departure of four teams that include Ferrari and Red Bull.

The Association had until the end of the month to decide its future with an announcement of its disbandment coming on Friday.

Weingarten, FOTA's secretary general, told Autosport: "I can confirm that FOTA has been disbanded, as a result of its members having re-evaluated their requirements in the face of a changing political and commercial landscape in Formula 1."

[mikec]

Ok so testing is over and things begin to get more clear. It actually looks like Massa is going to get a shot with the Williams in the early going and that's fantastic. No one deserves the opportunity to win more than Massa after all the BS he has survived as being the number 2 driver subservient to King Alonso. I hope he whips his (Alonso) ass in the first couple of races and rubs it in his face. We know he won't do that because he is a genuinely "good guy". Alonso is going to miss not having his whipping boy around to assist in set ups and blocking for him. Mercedes powered cars are the early favourite to come out on top in the early season but Red Bull will be back sooner than you think. They will throw money at their problems and will prevail eventually much to my dismay. It all makes for a great set up to the season and in 12 days the action starts. Enjoy the race Mika and let us know what the experience of being there was like. I'm going out on a limb early and picking Nico Rosberg as World Champion for 2014. GO MERCEDES!!!

[mikec]

As far as Dr H. Marko proclaiming that the Renault is down 165 hp to the Mercedes is total B.S. This guy is the biggest whiner in the pits and I hope he gets his ass kicked by the media for stupid comments that come out of his mouth. We will let the racing in Melbourne silence this nut job for a little while anyway

[MIKA27]

Ok so testing is over and things begin to get more clear. It actually looks like Massa is going to get a shot with the Williams in the early going and that's fantastic. No one deserves the opportunity to win more than Massa after all the BS he has survived as being the number 2 driver subservient to King Alonso. I hope he whips his (Alonso) ass in the first couple of races and rubs it in his face. We know he won't do that because he is a genuinely "good guy". Alonso is going to miss not having his whipping boy around to assist in set ups and blocking for him. Mercedes powered cars are the early favourite to come out on top in the early season but Red Bull will be back sooner than you think. They will throw money at their problems and will prevail eventually much to my dismay. It all makes for a great set up to the season and in 12 days the action starts. Enjoy the race Mika and let us know what the experience of being there was like. I'm going out on a limb early and picking Nico Rosberg as World Champion for 2014. GO MERCEDES!!!

Well said on all accounts Mike!!

I drive past Albert park every day, the fencing is up, the race is less than 2 weeks away, I'm so looking forward to this season.

It WILL NOT be Red Bulls season and this is regardless of their issues with the new turbo engines, I think the playing field just got a lot closer and equal across the field with the new cars and regulations.

Too early to say who will win the WDC but I'm hoping Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, Nico Hulkenberg at Force India and Romain Grosjean at Lotus do well this season.

On another front, I also hope Massa delivers for Williams and that the Williams team return to true form as this team has historically been a power house and truly deserve to be at its formidable best. Providing they stop hiring and firing drivers every season. Drivers are only part of the package, they need to equally provide a decent car to drive which they haven't done.

Will we see some big name teams DNF in Melbourne, this is the other question and one which I am really looking forward to see....

[MIKA27]

As far as Dr H. Marko proclaiming that the Renault is down 165 hp to the Mercedes is total B.S. This guy is the biggest whiner in the pits and I hope he gets his ass kicked by the media for stupid comments that come out of his mouth. We will let the racing in Melbourne silence this nut job for a little while anyway

This picture of Helmut really cracks me up!!

I really think he was the real prick with the entire Vettel versus Webber saga.

[MIKA27]

Bahrain International Circuit names Turn 1 after Schumacher

Seven time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, still in a coma in a French hospital after a skiing accident in late December, is to have the first corner of Bahrain’s Formula 1 circuit named after him.

The German won the inaugural Bahrain race in 2004 and also advised on the design of the circuit.

“From his first appearance in 2004, he immediately became an inspiration for all those who love motorsport in the Kingdom and it is therefore natural for us to recognise him in this way,” Bahrain International Circuit Chairman Zayed al Zayani said in a statement on Sunday.

Schumacher’s representative Sabine Kehm said that his family welcomed the move.

“I am convinced that Michael will love the idea and feel very honoured about having a BIC corner named after him,” she added.

Schumacher also has a corner named after him at the Nurburgring circuit in Germany.

The announcement was made on the last day of pre-season testing at the circuit, ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 16 March.

Bahrain hosts the third round of the championship on 6 April, with the race becoming an evening event under floodlights for the first time, as part of 10th anniversary celebrations.

Schumacher, 45, has undergone two operations since sustaining brain injuries after hitting his head on a rock while skiing with his family in the French Alpine resort of Meribel on Dec. 29.

Doctors at the hospital in Grenoble started waking him up progressively by lowering his sedation in early February but there have been no medical updates for some weeks.

[MIKA27]

Bahrain Test II Day 4: Hamilton fastest… next stop Melbourne!

Lewis Hamilton powered to top spot on the timing screens to end the final day of Formula 1 preseason testing fastest of all at Bahrain International Circuit, and with it bringing an end to a very successful preseason for Mercedes.

Hamilton’s big lap came late in the day, which was packed with stoppages with no fewer than eight interruptions to retrieve stranded cars – and was only fractionally slower than Felipe Massa’s best lap time, of all eight days in Bahrain, set 24 hours earlier. But the Silver Arrows outfit would probably have wanted a few more than 70 laps on their chart.

Williams were again impressive with Valterri Bottas second fastest, and with 108 laps to his credit the Grove based outfit leave Bahrain on a high, and emphasising the fact that Mercedes power units currently have the edge.

Fernando Alonso was third fastest in the Ferrari, his day also curtailed by long a spell in the garage to change a gearbox. He managed 74 laps in total. His best time of 1:34.280 was the fastest that the F14T had gone around Sakhir during the eight days of testing in the island kingdom.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Jean Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso also completed 74 laps, finishing fourth and fifth respectively on the timing sheets. Vergne fastest of the Renault powered contingent.

Sauber completed a huge 177 laps on the day with Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez sharing the cockpit on the day, an enormous achievement and 40 laps more than any team managed on a single day during the 12 days of testing. Sutil was sixth fastest, and Gutierrez eighth best.

Splitting the Sauber duo on the time sheets was fellow Ferrari powered driver Max Chilton in the Marussia, who ticked off 86 laps on what was one of the better days of testing.

Ninth fastest was reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel who suffered brake failure, which caused the problematic Red Bull RB10 to spin. Despite this and ongoing niggles the German enjoyed his most productive day of testing with 77 laps to his credit, but over four seconds down on Hamilton’s top time.

McLaren endured nightmarish final day of testing as the hitherto bullet proof MP4-29 was struck by problems which curtailed Jenson Button’s track time to a mere 21 laps. The team reported a high-mileage internal combustion engine failure which required an engine change, and later any further attempts to run were stopped by a control electronics problem.

Caterham finally got out of the GP2 lap time zone with Kamui Kobayashi managing 106 laps in the process.

The dubious honour of being slowest on the final day of testing went to Romain Grosjean in the Lotus E22, and a fire further exacerbating the situation for the team who completed the least preseason testing mileage of all teams. Grosjean goes to Melbourne with less than 100 laps to his credit during his six days in the cockpit.

Thus ended a drama packed Formula 1 preseason, the next episode being the real deal when engines fireup in anger for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne – bring it on!

[MIKA27]

Magnussen says he is ready as can be for his grand prix debut

The outstanding rookie of the pre-season has to be Kevin Magnussen who has impressed in his early days as a fully fledged Formula 1 driver. he has undoubtedly beenhelped by the fact that McLaren and Mercedes have their act together and as a result he believes that he is as ready as can be for his grand prix debut.

Speaking after his final testing stint in Bahrain, Magnussen said, “I am ready and I am really looking forward to it. It is a fantastic feeling to know that the next time in the car will be a grand prix – and I’m [going to be] there!”

“Of course I am pretty excited, who wouldn’t be? There is always the feeling that you could do more and if you had the time you would not stop getting yourself ready – you learn something every day.”

“I believe I have covered all the basics now and the rest will be learning by doing. That’s probably the best – and fastest – way to learn! Right now I feel very comfortable as I think I know what is important and what to focus on in a race weekend. But indeed it is a big job.”

Magnussen makes his debut at the forthcoming season opener, the Australian GP, in Melbourne.

MIKA: Magnussen will do well in Formula 1

[MIKA27]

Ferrari: We are not yet where we want to be

Fernando Alonso was at the wheel of the F14 T for the final day of winter testing for Scuderia Ferrari and the other ten Formula 1 teams, prior to the start of the 2014 World Championship.

In the morning, the team worked with Fernando on fine tuning some electronic configurations linked to optimising the use of energy in the new power unit. Before the lunch break, work was halted by the need to change the gearbox on the car.

In the afternoon, the technical programme moved on to a series of short and long runs to check the management of systems on the F14 T.

Over the past four days in Sakhir, the F14 T has completed a total of 337 laps, equivalent to 1.823 kilometres.

“The team did its utmost to carry out changes on the car as quickly as possible, but again today, we had planned to do more laps than we managed,” Fernando said afterwards.

“There are a lot of things to learn with the use of the power unit to improve the performance of the car and we are not yet where we want to be. Everyone in the team is very competitive and we are working day and night in order to get all the potential out of the F14 T as soon as possible. We have gone through twelve days of testing that were very demanding for everyone and I would like to thank the whole team for all its efforts.”

The next time the cars will be on track will be on Friday 14 March in Melbourne’s Albert Park, when the curtain goes up on the first free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix.

[MIKA27]

Lotus: We’ve ended our pre-season test programme with a lot of unknowns

Romain Grosjean ended the final day of pre-season testing with 32 laps completed, and a best lap time of 1min 39.302secs at the Bahrain International Circuit. Once more, a power unit problem meant an early stop to running. The team is now focused on maximising the potential of the E22 ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16.

Fast Facts:

• Track: Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain, 5.4km
  
• Chassis: E22-02
  
• Weather: Sunny and cloudy ambient 21-26°C, track 23-36°C
  
• Programme: Further assessment and evaluation.
  
• Laps Completed: 32
  
• Classification: P11, 1:39.302
  
• Interruptions: Software updates. Power unit problem.
  

Romain Grosjean: “We’re not in an ideal situation. There is a lot of new technology for everyone to understand, but even though we have stopped many times and spent a lot of time in the garage, each time we run the car we are learning something new. We’re all working as hard as we can in Enstone and I’m sure that Renault Sport F1 is doing the same. We now have two weeks to find a lot more performance and reliability.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:“We’ve ended our pre-season test programme with a lot of unknowns and a full workload for the days ahead. We’re all focused, both at Enstone and in Viry, on analysing all the data we have gained to make as much improvement as we can before we get to Australia for the first race of the season. Today we put some more mileage on the E22, but once again we stopped early, which is obviously not what we wanted. There will be some long days and nights before the first race but we are determined to make as much progress as possible.”

What’s Next?

The 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship will commence with the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16.

[MIKA27]

Marussia: We now feel like we are in a good position to go racing

Max Chilton and the Marussia F1 Team enjoyed a positive conclusion to the Team’s pre-season testing campaign today as Max ended the final day of running in 7th position.

This afternoon’s performance was all the more creditable for the fact that the day had not run entirely smoothly, with Max losing a substantial amount of track time to an electrical problem and the Team having to play catch-up with the programme.

The fourth day of testing got off to a good start with Max completing 10 laps before the issue then surfaced.

When he was able to return to the track, the Team were running to a modified programme aimed at maximising the amount of items that could be ticked off the checklist in order to be ready for the Australian Grand Prix in just two weeks’ time.

Max focused predominantly on longer race-relevant runs with the various tyre specifications as well as procedural work for race weekend conditions.

In the closing minutes of the afternoon, Max was able to benefit from a performance run to evaluate more of the outright performance of the car on low fuel, which is when he posted an encouraging lap time of 1:36.835, good for 7th position. He completed 61 laps.

Today’s running brings the Marussia F1 Team’s pre-season account from the three tests in Jerez and Bahrain up to 1777.54 kms and 334 laps. The next stop is Melbourne for the 2014 season curtain-raiser, the Australian Grand Prix, on 16 March.

Max Chilton: “Given that we’ve had a few little issues today, I’m quite encouraged by the 61 laps that we did achieve and the positive note on which we’ve ended the day. It’s a nice way to finish our pre-season testing. The way our day panned out meant that we had a lot to do to play catch-up and maximise the track time that we had left, but the items we have ticked off will be crucial in forming an overall picture for Melbourne. Generally, I think we can be pretty positive for the first race of the season. The new regulations have been a challenge up and down the pit lane and although we have also experienced a few issues along the way, we’ve also made a lot of progress. I don’t want to make any predictions because we won’t really know where we stand until qualifying and the race, but I’m feeling very optimistic as I think we‘ll be in a good position to make the most of our opportunities. My thanks to the Team trackside and back at base. We’ve come a long way since that first day of running in Jerez.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “The 12 days of pre-season testing seem to have passed by incredibly quickly. This period of the year is always very intense but this time we’ve really had our noses firmly to the grindstone, with very little respite across the whole team. Today’s performance was just reward for that effort and we now feel like we are in a good position to go racing. Today we were able to finalise many of the procedural aspects associated with running the car in a race situation. When considering the extremely complicated systems on the car, this has by no means been easy, but the work had to be done prior to Melbourne. It was nice to be able to recover from our earlier electrical problems to achieve this objective and still manage to provide Max with some qualifying practice. It was a really exciting last 10 minutes of the session and the crew really stretched themselves to the maximum, as if it were a real qualifying session. Unfortunately, leaving Bahrain does not mean all the hard work is at an end; it is just the beginning. Tonight and into the next few days the race team will be busy rebuilding the cars and the engineering team’s attention will be firmly focused on analysing what we’ve learned his week. Back at base, the first set-up development parts are already in production. Finally, I would like to thank everyone in the Team and at Scuderia Ferrari for giving us the best possible basis on which to begin our 2014 season.”

[MIKA27]

Sauber: We managed to get through a busy programme

The final day of pre-season testing went well, with the Sauber F1 Team completing 177 laps in one day.

Adrian Sutil was behind the wheel of the Sauber C33-Ferrari in the morning and completed 91 laps.

Esteban Gutiérrez took over in the afternoon and completed another 86 laps.

This marks the end of pre-season testing. The Sauber F1 Team was able to get through a tough testing programme in Jerez and Bahrain reasonably well.

Despite encountering unexpected issues, which resulted in less time on track, the team learned a lot. Now the team will take what it has learned and the data collected in order to be ready for the first race weekend in Melbourne, Australia, in two weeks.

• Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit / 5.412 km
  
• Driver: Adrian Sutil (morning) / Esteban Gutiérrez (afternoon)
  
• Weather: Sunny, air 22-26 °C, track 25-36 °C
  
• Chassis / engine: C33-01 / Ferrari
  
• Laps today: 177 laps, 957.924 km
  
• Fastest lap: 1:36.467
  

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “Today we had both drivers in the car and managed to get through a busy programme. It was good for them to have this valuable time in the car. Looking back at the first test in Jerez, we had a tough programme to get through and faced several unexpected problems, which meant we lost running time. The learning curve was very steep at the first test. Now it’s a bit flatter, but there is still enough to do. We will take our experience from the tests, evaluate the data and be ready for the first race in Melbourne. Nevertheless, I’m sure that we will still learn a lot over the first few races of the season.”

Adrian Sutil: “It was a good morning. We covered everything that we had planned, just in a shorter time frame. Yesterday was unlucky, but it’s better to have a problem here than in Melbourne. I feel much more comfortable after this morning’s session. Now we have a lot more data to analyse. Overall we had a tough testing programme to go through and we had unexpected problems here and there. However, we don’t get any more tests, so we will take what we have and get the most out of it in Melbourne, and I’m looking forward to that.”

Esteban Gutiérrez: “Today was really productive. We recovered a lot from what we lost yesterday and the team did a great job. We did a lot of laps and completed the whole programme. It’s satisfying to achieve this. Of course we still have quite a few things that we need to work on and sort out before Melbourne. However, I believe that we are going in the right direction. We were able to do a few race simulations, which I found useful. I was able to prepare for the first race and I feel ready for Melbourne.”

What comes next?

In two weeks the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship kicks off at Melbourne’s Albert Park, Australia ringing in the new V6 turbo era.

[MIKA27]

Caterham: More evidence that we continue to make progress with the Power Unit

Caterham report from the final day of preseason testing at Bahrain International Circuit, ahead of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship season.

Kamui Kobayashi, car #10: “106 laps is a good way for us to finish the tests, even though the clutch problem we had in the last hour meant we didn’t have a chance to do any of the performance runs we’d planned for today. However, I’m very happy we were able to have two such good final days in Bahrain as it’s showed that our reliability is good and that could be very important in Australia and for the whole season, especially when you look at how quite a few of the other teams have struggled both here and in Jerez.

“Today we had a very long program, starting in the morning with a number of short runs to work through setup changes and we’ve made good progress in that area. In the afternoon we went onto longer runs, looking at fuel and energy management strategy and tyre wear and we have a lot of data to work with on that – again, that will be critical in the races so to have had the chance to start to understand how the car behaves with different modes is very important.

“Next week I have a couple more days in the simulator at the factory and then it’ll be time to go to Australia. I’m obviously excited about getting back to racing and with what we’ve achieved in testing I think it could be a very interesting start to the 2014 season.”

Cedrik Staudohar, Track Support Leader, Renault Sport F1: “Another very decent day of running for the team and more evidence that we continue to make progress with the Power Unit, both in terms of reliability and performance. Now the work will continue in Viry to ensure that we go to Australia with the strongest package possible and after the amount of laps we have completed here in Bahrain and in Jerez, we have given ourselves the best chance of doing so when the season starts.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: “It has certainly been as tough a pre-season as we expected, but to finish as by far the most reliable Renault powered team, and with some early indications that our relative performance has improved compared to this time last year is positive. I would have liked to see where Kamui would have finished with a performance run on softer compounds as I’m sure he would have found a considerable amount of time, probably into the 1.36s, although I do not think that outright pace will the primary success factor in the first races. A lot of hard work has been put in by the whole team, on track at the tests, back at Leafield and in the wind tunnel in Cologne and I would also like to thank the staff at Renault Sport F1 – the early days of their new power unit have not been easy, but they have worked relentlessly to overcome a very large part of their initial difficulties.

“I’m also very pleased with how all three drivers we have run in the tests have integrated with the team. As a rookie, Marcus is on a steep learning curve but he has shown consistently that he improves with every lap and is ready for his first full F1 race weekend in Australia in two weeks. Robin, who ran for one day in both the first and second tests, has already demonstrated his ability, both behind the wheel and as a teammate and Kamui has shown exactly why we are so pleased to have him with us. He sets the benchmark for us, both in terms of outright pace and in his feedback, and he and Marcus are going to be a good pairing this season.

“We will now have a few more busy days to analyse the huge amount of information generated by our 3,312 kms of testing and see how we can make the best possible use of what we have available for the first races of the season, as well as to start defining our development strategy for the later stages of what is going to be a quite amazing F1 season.”

[MIKA27]

McLaren: A difficult final day for Jenson and the team

McLaren report from the final day of preseason testing at Bahrain International Circuit, ahead of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship season.

The engineers were able to carry out some significant set-up work during the morning’s early laps.

However, the team’s attempts to understand the behavior of its Melbourne-spec front wing – which arrived this morning – were curtailed by a late-morning red-flag.

After lunch, Jenson only managed a few laps before suffering a high-mileage internal combustion engine failure, which kept his car in the garage for much of the afternoon while the unit was replaced.

At the end of the day, any further attempts to run were hit by an as-yet undiagnosed control electronics problem – the result of which is that the team had no driver feedback upon which to evaluate the new front wing.

The engineers will be able to evaluate its strengths using the limited run-data we accumulated during the day. Jenson was able to run a final lap under the Bahrain International Circuit’s spotlights – the session was extended by 30 minutes to allow the new system to be tested ahead of next month’s night race.

[MIKA27]

Grosjean 'not in a nice situation'

Romain Grosjean has not given up on scoring points in Australia despite not even completing a race distance during testing.

Last week in Bahrain the Lotus driver completed just 26 laps and had hoped for better in this week's final test.

That, though, was not to be.

The Frenchman managed 33 laps on his first day and added only another 32 on Sunday, bringing his complete tally for pre-season testing to 91.

"We can't do a race simulation until the grand prix itself, so there will be a lot to think of in the car," Crash.net reports him as having said after Sunday's running.

"This is the situation we are facing, so all we can do is try to work as well as we can until we get to the grand prix and then discover how it is to race 300km.

"We will go to try and score points. Being there to compete is nice, but [being uncompetitive] is not what we want.

"We are not in a nice situation but that doesn't mean it is over so if we can try to save as many points as we can early in the season then we can try to recover."

Grosjean, however, is confident that Lotus are heading in the right direction with the E22 and its Renault engine.

"We did as much as we could from the little amount of running we had. Every time we stopped we tried to improve.

"Some things went in the right direction, but I think it's more complicated than everyone thought, so there is a lot of work to do on our side and a lot of work on the Renault side.

"We need to work together and achieve what we want to achieve. It won't be easy, but I think we have improved."

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Long Beach city council to consider F1 bid

The Long Beach city council are to meet during a closed session on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of putting the contract for the city's grand prix out to bid.

Currently IndyCar has a contract to race on the streets of Long Beach until 2015 and has done so for the past 39 years. However after Bernie Ecclestone wrote to the council last year expressing an interest in taking over the contract, the council will now consider whether they should renew IndyCar's contract or put it to tender.

"Please be advised that Formula 1 is interested in returning to your city, and we will consider the appropriate entity to make such a bid if you decide to permit such a process," read an exerpt from the 82-year-old's letter.

The local Gazette reports that the agenda for Tuesday's meeting is to discuss the price and terms of the lease to use Shoreline Drive and surrounding streets and property. The negotiating parties are listed as the city, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach (GPALB) and the FIA Formula One World Championship.

Formula One raced in Long Beach for seven years between 1976 and 1983 before the race's founder, Chris Pook, and the GPALB switched to the less expensive IndyCars.

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Pirelli announces tyre choices for opening races

Pirelli has revealed which tyre compounds it will be taking to the opening four races of the 2014 season.

The opening round in Australia will see the medium (white) and soft (yellow) compounds in action, as will the third and fourth rounds in Bahrain and China.

The second round in Malaysia will see the hard (orange) paired with the medium. Speaking about what Pirelli learnt during testing, Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery said:

"The information gained over all three pre-season tests has helped us to come up with the tyre choices for the start of the season, having run with the new 2014 tyres in all conditions now: ranging from rain in Jerez to ambient temperatures exceeding 25 degrees centigrade in Bahrain.

"The conclusion we can draw so far is that the 2014 tyres are more consistent and wear less than their predecessors, without compromising performance. We're also meeting another of our objectives with one more step towards the reduction of 'marbles' on the track.

"The medium and soft compounds are well matched to the expected race conditions in Australia, Bahrain and China, providing what we expect to be the right balance between performance and strategy with two to three pit stops per car.

"The more abrasive and hotter conditions of Malaysia have led us to nominate the hard and medium compounds there, as we did last year."

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Formula 1 2014: Get ready for the most dramatic start in years!

Formula 1 looks poised for a dramatic shake-up when the new season starts in Australia on 16 March.

That is the lesson from pre-season testing, which finished in Bahrain on Sunday with no obvious end in sight for the problems suffered all winter by world champions Red Bull and some surprise names looking like real front-line contenders.

Mercedes and their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg remain the favourites for both the first race of the season and the Championship after a largely impressive performance over the 12 days of testing in Spain and Bahrain.

The one caveat is that reliability problems started to creep in over the final three days even at Mercedes.

The other teams who use Mercedes engines - Williams, Force India and McLaren - also look in pretty good shape, particularly Williams.

New rules for this season have introduced all-new 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrid engines with extensive energy-recovery systems, and cars can use no more than 100kg of fuel throughout a race.

The Mercedes power-unit appears to have a significant advantage over those of Ferrari and Renault in terms of the amount of power it can produce for a given amount of fuel - a crucial element of the new F1.

It is no accident that Mercedes-powered cars set the four fastest times achieved over eight days of testing in Bahrain over the last two weeks. And it was the seven best times before Fernando Alonso finally unleashed some pace from the Ferrari on the final day.

Mercedes-powered cars have also topped the times in 11 out of the 12 test days this winter.

But it was a Williams, in the hands of former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, that set the fastest time of all, rather than either Hamilton or Rosberg.

Headline pre-season testing times are notoriously unreliable indicators of true form, but Williams' insiders insist that their pace - which was equally impressive over longer, race-distance runs - is genuine. They were behind only Mercedes in the mileage charts, too.

As Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said: "Mercedes and Williams seem to be in very good shape. That is what we have seen so far."

Williams, though, have put all their cards on the table - Massa's fastest lap was an all-out qualifying run on low fuel and the softest possible tyres.

The same is unlikely to apply to Hamilton's best lap, which was just 0.02secs slower than the Williams, albeit set the following day in different conditions. Indeed Hamilton admitted that there was "a lot more to come" from him and the car.

But even so, Williams look like being contenders close to the front in Melbourne on 15-16 March. And Force India appear not to be too far off, either.

The suspicion has to be that the factory Mercedes team have left some performance untapped, for it seems not to make sense that Williams and Force India, midfielders in 2013, can have cars of comparable pace to the team who finished second.

But even if Williams are somewhere close, they will have produced one of the great F1 revivals.

Last year was the worst in Williams' history - they scored only five points. Recognising they were in dire shape, a major overhaul of the team's engineering department has been undertaken, and already it seems to have made a big difference.

And their driver line-up of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, while not comparable to the stellar pairings of Hamilton and Rosberg or Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, looks like a good blend of youth and experience.

The fourth Mercedes team, McLaren, share that with Williams, in teaming Jenson Button with Danish novice Kevin Magnussen, who has been turning heads with his obvious speed, flair and charisma.

Like Williams, McLaren have undergone major upheavals this winter, with chairman Ron Dennis staging an internal coup and ousting team principal Martin Whitmarsh following their poor season last year.

McLaren started testing brightly, but seem to have slipped backwards as time has gone by. And by the final Bahrain test this weekend Jenson Button was beginning to sound alarm bells about their performance.

"We've done some very good testing, we've been reliable, we've done some long runs, we've got a good understanding of the car," the 2009 world champion said. "But at the moment we're not quick enough."

McLaren, whose car has not changed much during testing, have a big upgrade package due for the first race, but the same will be true of all the other leading teams.

Ferrari have had a low-key winter testing programme, but the more time went on, the more it looked as if that was because they genuinely lacked a bit of pace rather than because they were trying not to show their hand.

Alonso finally got among the Mercedes-powered cars on the final day in Bahrain, with a lap of one minute 34.280 - Ferrari's first under the 1:35 barrier. But that was still a second off Hamilton's best lap, set at the same time and on the same type of tyres.

Alonso, incidentally, was 1.146secs quicker than Raikkonen overall, although as their times were set on different days and in different conditions that probably does not mean very much.

It would be unlike Ferrari to drain out all the fuel and go for what is known as a 'glory run'. So, despite the impression that they appear to be behind the Mercedes teams, especially on race pace, it would be foolish to write them off.

The concern for Ferrari seems to be largely their engine, which insiders say is some way short of the Mercedes in terms of power-for-fuel usage. Like at Mercedes, too, gremlins began to appear in the final test.

Reliability is a concern even for the team who have made that a trademark in the last decade or more.

But what of Red Bull, who have dominated F1 for the last four years?

Their winter testing programme has been nothing short of disastrous, with only similarly troubled Lotus doing fewer miles. And if the Ferrari power-unit is lacking compared to the Mercedes, the Renault appears to be even further behind at the moment, both in performance and reliability.

The Red Bull has suffered failure after failure. And while the Renault engine has been disappointing, to say the least, a fair number of those failures were Red Bull ones - including the apparent front brake failure that pitched Sebastian Vettel off the track on the final day in Bahrain.

Red Bull's longest run of the entire winter was just 20 laps - a third of a race distance - as they struggled with all manner of problems related to both the power-unit and the rear of the car.

Their best time - 2.5secs off Massa - was set by new recruit Daniel Ricciardo, but the brief promise of the Australian's running on Friday evaporated the next day when Vettel failed to complete even a single lap.

The world champion, whose best lap time in Bahrain was 4.25secs off the pace, admits the team's situation is "serious". How could he not? But Red Bull have a consolation some others don't - the car might not work yet, but it does at least appear as if it will be genuinely quick when it does.

"I'm always worried about Red Bull," Button said. "If they can put a few laps together you can see their pace. They're strong. It's a good-looking car; it looks like it should work from an aerodynamic point of view and I think when they do get reliability, if they do, they'll be very, very competitive.

"I was driving with Ricciardo for quite a few laps and he couldn't get past me on the straights. He overtook me around the outside of Turn 11 instead, which is a high-speed left-hander. I've never seen anything like that before.

"If they can complete a race distance, they'll be near the front."

At the start of a season that heralds the biggest regulation change in a generation, and the introduction of the most complex engines ever used in F1, that qualifier about reliability applies to all the teams. But to Red Bull and Lotus far more than anyone else.

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Hamilton: My team is stronger than ever and there’s a lot more to come

Lewis Hamilton clocked the fastest time on the final day of Formula 1 preseason testing in Bahrain, and heads to the season opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne with confidence and a spring in his step as he knows that the Silver Arrows are going to be contenders in 2014.

Speaking to media after his final stint in the Mercedes W05, Hamilton said, “It is good going into a season, to the first race, knowing that we have covered the most miles, we probably are one of the most put-together teams in terms of the car working, a good mileage under our belts and a happy spirit.”

The mood within the Mercedes camp is one of optimism, yet tempered with caution, “We are driven to fight for the championship – that all is super positive. But let’s keep the feet on the ground: right now, even if all indications look great, it is still difficult to know who is hot and who is not.”

“You go to Australia not knowing who the hell will be in the lead. Reliability will be a huge factor, for every single person in the team. For everyone,” added the 2008 F1 world champion.

Hamilton summed up his final day of testing, “There’s a lot more to come. I did two runs on the supersofts. The first run was not very good, part of the lap was okay but there were a few mistakes, and then the second run was terrible. But that’s just part and parcel of trying to learn how to extract the most from those tyres and now that I know there’s a whole heap more grip to come from those tyres I’ll set up the car better to extract it.”

But containing the optimism appears to be difficult for Hamilton who starts his second year as a Mercedes driver, “All I can say is that we will definitely be shooting for the top five! There were loads of stuff we could have done and we could do with another couple of weeks of testing but I’m sure that’s the same for everyone!”

Nevertheless Hamilton remains wary of Red Bull despite the problem filled preseason for the world champions, “They look like they have a stunning car and usually the more beautiful it is, the faster it is, so I’m sure they have a fast car this year. Once they have the engine sorted they will be tough to beat. But I know my team is stronger than ever.”

The Briton also had some kind words about testing in the Middle East, “These have been my favourite tests, simply because we’ve been in Bahrain. These were the nicest two weeks I ever had in testing in terms of weather and in terms of how you’re treated and received in a country. And the track is far greater than Jerez or Barcelona. It really has been a pleasure to be here.”

Next time Hamilton drives out of the pits will be at Albert Park on 14 March, for the first free practice session of the 2014 season.

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Pirelli to sponsor two grands prix in 2014

Pirelli will become the title sponsor of the Spanish and Hungarian Grands Prix in 2014.

The Italian company has been Formula 1′s often-controversial sole supplier of tyres since 2011, but this season will be the first time grands prix are actually named after Pirelli.

It emerges that the Spanish Grand Prix in May will officially be called ‘Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Pirelli’, while the Budapest race in July will be ‘Formula 1 Pirelli Magyar Nagydij’.

Pirelli’s motor sport boss Paul Hembery told reporters as the Bahrain test concluded on Sunday that the news will soon be announced officially.

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Lauda confirms no engine homologation delay for Renault

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda has confirmed that Renault’s rivals opposed a move to delay the 2014 Formula 1 engine performance ‘freeze’.

Although denied by the embattled French marque, it was reported last week that Renault made the request that was subsequently discussed during the meeting last Friday of the Formula 1 strategy group.

It was there, Lauda confirmed, that a postponement of the mandatory homologation of the new turbo V6 engines was ruled out.

Asked by Osterreich newspaper if he was opposed to Renault’s request, former triple world champion Lauda answered:

“Exactly. There are rules and everyone must follow them.”

And Bild quotes the Austrian legend as confirming that the strategy group made “absolutely the right decision” in ruling out a freeze delay.

Mercedes is obviously happy to see rivals Ferrari and Renault have to freeze the performance components of their ‘power units’, given the clear advantage enjoyed by the German outfit and its customer teams at present.

But Lauda insists the full “truth” of the 2014 pecking order is not known yet.

“That will emerge only in Melbourne,” he said, “and even then, every race after that will bring new surprises. But of course, the world title must be our goal.”

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New F1 deal for Melbourne will happen insists Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone says he is confident the Australian Grand Prix venue, Melbourne is staying on the Formula 1 calendar beyond its 2015 contract.

“Yes,” he told the Herald Sun newspaper. “Sure, sure, sure.”

The Formula 1 chief executive said a new contract will be signed “as soon as we get the lawyers sorted”.

Ecclestone’s comments follow reports from within the state government that race organisers are pushing hard for a better financial deal.

But the 83-year-old Briton insisted: “It will happen, don’t worry about it.”

Ecclestone said the government is no longer arguing with Formula 1 over money.

“I think that’s all been sorted,” he said. “It’s just the bits and pieces. It will happen.”