The penultimate day of pre-season testing at Bahrain got underway this morning with typically perfect weather conditions.
Williams's Valtteri Bottas and Caterham's Marcus Ericsson were first out, completing lap-times in the low 1 m 40 sec bracket. Esteban Gutierrez also ventured out in his Sauber C33 for an installation lap.
The times quickly came tumbling however, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton posting a 1:35.506 and then bettering it to a 1:34.263.
Despite the Brit's pace, his W05 developed a small hydraulic issue later on in the day. The Italian Ferrari team encountered telemetry issues today also, forcing Kimi Raikkonen to miss some of the session whilst the problems were resolved.
Reigning constructors World Champions Red Bull's woes continued today, after an impressive run yesterday with 59 laps completed in the hands of Sebastian Vettel. New signing Daniel Ricciardo did not fair as well however, after suffering a new, undisclosed mechanical issue which cut the Australian's running short after just 28 laps.
There were a grand total of three red flags today, two courtesy of the Lotus team, with Pastor Maldonado's E22 stopping on track twice. Marussia's Max Chilton suffered an engine issue, resulting in the team having to replace his Ferrari power unit. This meant that the Briton only completed four laps.
It was a good day for Williams with Felipe Massa at the wheel, who completed 60 laps and finished 3rd overall. A vast improvement on Wednesday's four.
McLaren also fared well with the newly-engaged Jenson Button finishing on +0.7 seconds back from Hamilton, after running over 100 laps which was the most of any team. They were closely followed by Caterham who completed 98.
The final day of testing concludes tomorrow at 2pm GMT. Follow F1Today.net for Live Updates throughout the day.
Tom Brooks
F1 Editor
Day 3 - Bahrain Report: Hamilton on top, followed by Button
- Published on 21 Feb 2014 16:01
-
0
- By: Tom Brooks
F1 News
Jenson Button
Valtteri Bottas
Felipe Massa
Pastor Maldonado
Daniel Ricciardo
Lewis Hamilton
Sebastian Vettel
Marcus Ericsson
Esteban Gutierrez
Mercedes
Sauber
Williams
McLaren
Lotus F1
Ferrari
Marussia
.
Trending news
-
Windsor Predicts Verstappen Will Leave F1: "The Rules Have Reduced Him to an Ordinary Driver"Peter Windsor has gone further than most analysts in his assessment of Max Verstappen's future. The veteran journ...
03 Apr 2026 13:57 -
Dutch Commentator Mol Proposes Specific Technical Changes to Fix the 2026 RulesThe criticism of the 2026 Formula 1 regulations is no longer just coming from drivers. Dutch F1 commentator Olav Mol ...
03 Apr 2026 10:54 -
Drivers' WhatsApp Group Has "Exploded" as GPDA Confirms Widespread Frustration With 2026 RulesThe discontent among Formula 1 drivers over the 2026 regulations is not a Max Verstappen problem. It is a paddock-wid...
03 Apr 2026 14:58 -
Reconstruction: Antonelli Is Creating a Verstappen-Style Culture Shock at MercedesFormula 1 appears to have a new prodigy. Andrea Kimi Antonelli has won his first two races in China and Japan, taken ...
03 Apr 2026 12:58 -
Argentina Is Seriously Pursuing a Return to the Formula 1 CalendarFranco Colapinto has done something for Argentine motorsport that no amount of marketing could replicate: he has made...
03 Apr 2026 11:56
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Local time
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
-
Friday
-
Saturday
-
Sunday
Test calendar
Circuit de Catalunya - Winter testing
-
Jan 26
I. Hadjar
- 1:18.159
-
-
-
Jan 27
M. Verstappen
- 1:19.578
-
-
-
Jan 28
A. Antonelli
- 1:17.362
-
-
-
Jan 29
G. Russell
- 1:16.445
-
-
-
Jan 30
L. Hamilton
- 1:16.348
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 11
L. Norris
- 1:34.669
-
-
-
Feb 12
C. Leclerc
- 1:34.273
-
-
-
Feb 13
A. Antonelli
- 1:33.669
-
-
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
-
Feb 18
G. Russell
- 1:33.459
-
-
Feb 19
A. Antonelli
- 1:32.803
-
-
Feb 20
C. Leclerc
- 1:31.992
-
-
World Championship standings 2026
Pos
Driver
Team
Points
Pos
Team
Points
Related news
Give your opinion!
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
Formula 1 Calendar - 2026
Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
-
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
-
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia
Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Driver profile
- Team McLaren
- Points 37
- Podiums 0
- Grand Prix 41
- Country United Kingdom
- Date of b. Jan 19 1980 (46)
- Place of b. Frome, Somerset, United Kingdom
- Weight 72 kg
- Length 1.82 m
- 67,065 comments on McLaren
23 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Jenson Button
Team profile
- Team name Mercedes
- Base Brackley, Germany
- Michael Schumacher 3
- Nico Rosberg 4
- Nico Rosberg 6
- Michael Schumacher 7
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 8
- Nico Rosberg 9
- Lewis Hamilton 10
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli 12
- Lewis Hamilton 44
- George Russell 63
- Valtteri Bottas 77
- 632,743 comments on Mercedes
- 59 members have this team as their favourite
- Tweets about Mercedes
Replies (0)
Login to reply