Formula One Pre-Season Test
Jerez, Spain.
Day 4 - Janurary 31th 2014
Times and Laps:
1 F.Massa Williams 1.28.229 86 Laps
2 F.Alonso Ferrari 1.29.145 115Laps
3 D.Juncadella Force India 1.29.457 81 Laps
4 K.Magnussen McLaren 1.30.806 110 Laps
5 L.Hamilton Mercedes 1.30.822 41 Laps
6 J.Bianchi Marussia 1.32.222 25 Laps
7 A.Sutil Sauber 1.36.571 69 Laps
8 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1.36.951 91 Laps
9 K.Kobayashi Caterham 1.43.193 54 Laps
10 D.Kvyat Toro Rosso 1.44.016 9 Laps
11 D.Ricciardo Red Bull 1.45.374 7 Laps
Day four has provided a much busier day of on-track action with the Mercedes and Ferrari powered cars pounding around gathering a lot of useful data.The times are largely irrelevant due to the damp track for most of the day and of course with it still being early days for these completely new cars and power units, none of them are yet running at full power. This however does mean that all four days have ended with a Mercedes powered car on top of the time sheets.
Massa's Williams-Mercedes topped the time sheets today with a total of 86 laps. The team which last year were powered by Renault have clearly made a very good decision in terms of switching to Mercedes power units. Massa declared himself happier than expected with the team and the car.
Mercedes split their day between the two drivers due to Lewis losing more time with issues (such as the wing incident on day 1) Nico Rosberg still managed an impressive race simulation in the morning and 91 laps before Lewis took over and amassed a further 41 laps in the car.
McLaren continued their impressive run of form with Magnussen managing a massive 110 laps. He did cause a couple of spins but on the whole has been extremely impressive on his Formula One debut.
Even though their car only made its first appearance yesterday, they managed 25 laps today and posted times faster than that of the Force India and Sauber which is a very impressive start.The car certainly looks to be a nicely crafted piece of work and could certainly see them move further up the grid. Especially if the Renault troubles do not get resolved!
The day also provided another tough day for the Renault powered teams, with both Red Bull and Toro Rosso managing 16 laps between them. Caterham however did manage 54 laps but were 5 seconds off the pace.
Red Bull's continuing problems led them to call it a day just after lunch and head home. It's going to be a long few weeks before the Bahrain tests if they are going to close the gap and be competitive for Melbourne. Although you can never write a team like Red Bull off, there is no denying that they have a lot of work to do!