Bahrain test is final chance for F1 teams

By Edd Straw

Wednesday, February 26th 2014, 12:47 GMT

Formula 1's final pre-season test kicks off in Bahrain on Thursday, giving teams and drivers their final opportunity to prepare for the 2014 season.

With just four days of running left before Friday practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 14, the teams in best shape are aiming to focus on upgrades, car performance and race simulations.

So far, only Mercedes-powered teams have attempted race simulations and with the 100kg-per-race fuel limit placing a premium on efficiency, there is still uncertainty over how races will pan out.

This means that any team that has not completed a proper race distance will head into the Australian GP blind.

Ten things we learned from Bahrain F1 test

With most teams launching a relatively basic car specification to allow work to focus on understanding the new 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, there were relatively few major upgrades in the previous test meaning that most squads are planning car changes for Bahrain.

Those able to run reliably will be best-placed to evaluate aerodynamic upgrades as well as continuing to refine the way that the engines run to achieve the best car balance.

So far, Mercedes-powered teams have led the way, although one of the major talking points of the test will be Ferrari's progress as the Scuderia has yet to show its hand publicly and appears to be lagging behind the Mercedes works team.

RENAULT QUESTION MARKS

A litany of problems with the Renault engine has restricted running, with Red Bull, Lotus, Toro Rosso and Caterham logging only 4019km between them during the first eight days of testing - compared to the 3073km achieved by the Mercedes team alone.

Other than Ferrari-powered Marussia, the four Renault-engined teams are the least prepared heading into the final test.

Renault made changes to its energy store, both on the hardware and software side, for the last Bahrain test and also supplied two stages of control system software, the first a very conservative version designed to allow the cars to run as reliably as possible, and the second a more aggressive version for improved performance.

As Renault is adamant its hardware is up to scratch, the focus will be on software and the way the engines are operated when testing gets underway.

Light at the end of the tunnel for Renault

"We have made some good headway in terms of PU [power unit] performance and operation in the car, we are now in a situation we could have accepted mid-Jerez," said Renault Sport F1 deputy managing director Rob White after last week's test in Bahrain.

"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 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."

NO RACE SIM YET

No Renault team has yet completed a race simulation, although Lotus was hopeful of being able to attempt one in Bahrain.

The team enjoyed an encouraging final day in the previous test and is confident that it can close the performance gap to the front.

"That will be one of our priorities next week, to try and do a race sim so maybe second day you will be looking at that," said Lotus technical director Nick Chester.

Gary Anderson predicts 2014 F1 pecking order

"There is a lot of progression yet to come. It would be brave to say we could take all 5.4 seconds out [compared to last test pacesetter Nico Rosberg's time] but there are a lot of areas where we will make a lot of progress."

Chester even talked up the possibility of emerging as the lead Renault-powered team this year and with the reigning world champion team struggling throughout testing so far, Red Bull's progress in Bahrain will be one of the stories of the coming four days.

Follow the final Bahrain test as it happens from 6am UK time with AUTOSPORT Live.

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Bottas hopeful of strong start to 2014

By Ben Anderson

Wednesday, February 26th 2014, 14:35 GMT

Valtteri Bottas says Williams has a real chance to score some strong results early in the 2014 Formula 1 season, after continuing its excellent pre-season testing form in Bahrain.

The team only managed to set the eighth fastest time across four days of testing at the Sakhir circuit last week, but devoted one day entirely to pitstop practice with the FW36.

Bottas drove more laps in a single day than any other driver on day two (116) while Williams completed more running than any other team (323 laps) in Bahrain.

"If we have more of these kinds of days and if some other teams continue struggling then for sure we have an advantage, and I think a big thanks to this is the Mercedes," said Bottas.

"The work with them has been very good so far; the engine side is working well. We did the amount of laps of two races without any problems, which is very important."

Gary Anderson predicts 2014 F1 pecking order

The Mercedes-powered runners have dominated the timesheets during the two days of testing held so far, and the Finn reckons his Grove team will have an advantage early on if non-Mercedes teams continue to struggle.

"At this point compared to last year is it's looking better for us, and that's definitely our goal to make a good step from last year, because it was not where we should be," added Bottas.

"But we're not getting too excited yet. We've no clue what the others have been doing. Looking at the lap times it's still very difficult to know, so let's wait a bit and see.

Does Williams hold the aces?

"I think Ferrari is also looking strong [with a] strong engine. [Their] reliability is also not too bad, and we'll see how much Renault can improve.

"I think we should not underestimate anyone, but we are hoping we will be in this top 10 group and my feeling, at least at the beginning of the season, is that it could be Mercedes-powered cars [at the front] but let's see.

"I think the field could actually be quite tight - especially the top 15."

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Ferrari plans main upgrades for test

By Glenn Freeman

Wednesday, February 26th 2014, 17:25 GMT

Ferrari plans to bring the main upgrades to its 2014 Formula 1 car during the final pre-season test in Bahrain.

The Italian team has run its F14 T in relatively conservative specification so far during testing, as its focus has been on achieving enough reliability to carry out long runs.

However, pre-Australian Grand Prix developments are planned to be introduced throughout the final test, which starts at the Sakhir circuit on Thursday.

Speaking about the new parts Ferrari ran in last week's Bahrain test, engineering director Pat Fry said: "We've got a few bits that we're testing to check correlation, but I wouldn't really call them upgrades.

"The main upgrades we will be bringing through at various stages of next week."

Gary Anderson assesses the current F1 pecking order

Fry admitted that the telemetry issues that cost Kimi Raikkonen some running last Friday were a setback, but he added that the team will simply try to ramp up its mileage in the remaining days to make up for it.

"We've got a bit of catching up to do, yes," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT if the delays had affected Ferrari's plans.

"We're always trying to do as much mileage as we can and we obviously got set back.

"It would have been nice to have a 100 lap day but we're a little bit short."

Ferrari completed 287 laps across the four days in Bahrain last week, with Mercedes, McLaren and Williams all marginally ahead of it on the lap chart.

Follow the final pre-season F1 test on AUTOSPORT Live from 6am UK time on Thursday February 27

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Kobayashi: GP2 faster than Caterham

By Glenn Freeman

Tuesday, February 25th 2014, 11:00 GMT

Kamui Kobayashi believes that a GP2 car would be quicker than his Caterham F1 machine in its current state after two pre-season tests.

The Japanese racer ended the first Bahrain F1 test with a best lap of 1m39.8s, which is four tenths of a second slower than last year's GP2 pole at the same circuit for 2013 champion Fabio Leimer.

While most Renault-powered teams are focusing on making their cars reliable at the moment, Kobayashi is keen to help Caterham find some more speed at next week's final pre-season test.

"We are not in race conditions here, but if we were in race conditions I think I should bring a GP2 car," Kobayashi told reporters in Bahrain.

"The lap time is still quicker in GP2. We need to work, but in this moment if we were to race, I think it's not Formula 1.

"When you look at the lap time, I need to be worried. I cannot be happy, but I have to think about what we can do.

"Time is very limited, and we need to think about reliability, but also performance. We have to try as much as we can."

F1 2014 is not too slow

The ex-Toyota and Sauber man added that he is not particularly interested in having to rely purely on reliability for Caterham to land more competitive results than it has experienced so far in F1.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if a slow car that was reliable could enable the team to score its first points, Kobayashi said: "I am not looking for that.

"I'm looking more for the potential for us to catch up. This is the most important part of why I am here.

"I'm not just thinking about finishing the race, of course I also need performance.

"This year is the biggest chance for this team.

"There is a lot of chance and possibility, but at the moment we are a little bit off the pace compared with the other teams on the development side."

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Massa: Smedley a significant capture

By Edd Straw

Tuesday, February 25th 2014, 09:19 GMT

Felipe Massa believes that Rob Smedley can bring more than just engineering ability to the Williams team.

Williams has confirmed that Smedley, Massa's former race engineer at Ferrari, has joined the team as head of vehicle performance.

Massa has no doubts that he will be a significant addition to the team, which has extensively bolstered its technical structure, and is looking forward to working with him even though their relationship will be different to how it was at Ferrari.

"He's somebody that knows me 100 per cent and understands a lot about the car," Massa told AUTOSPORT when asked about Smedley before he knew whether his old race engineer would also join Williams.

"He is very intelligent and understands a lot of things that are important to be competitive.

"I always have a great relationship with him. He's more than just a great engineer."

While Massa has settled in well at Williams, he believes it will be important to have someone he has a long relationship with on the engineering staff.

Smedley worked at Ferrari from 2004-2013, initially as test team engineer before taking over as Massa's race engineer ahead of the 2006 European Grand Prix.

The switch was made because Massa and his original Ferrari race engineer, Gabriele delli Colli, had a troubled relationship during the first four races of 2006.

"It's important to work with people that know you and understand you 100 per cent," said Massa.

"Rob knows me a lot, maybe more than I believe, and this is always important.

"He can help us [Williams] a lot."

SMEDLEY AS MASSA'S RACE ENGINEER

Seasons: 2006 (European GP)-2013
Races: 135
Wins: 11
Podiums: 36
Poles: 15
Fastest laps: 14
Best championship position: 2nd (2008)

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F1 tyre management still key in 2014

By Ben Anderson

Tuesday, February 25th 2014, 16:33 GMT

Tyre management will be a crucial part of Formula 1 races in 2014, according to some drivers.

The sport has undergone a massive regulation overhaul for this season, replacing normally aspirated V8 engines with smaller capacity, turbocharged V6s, and the rules include a more stringent fuel limit of 100 litres - down from 150l in 2013 - for each race.

Pirelli has also introduced harder compounds of tyres for this year, and much of the focus is expected to shift from drivers carefully managing tyre wear to saving fuel efficiently across a race distance.

Ten things we learned from Bahrain F1 test

But Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, who completed more than 170 laps of running during the recent pre-season test in Bahrain, reckons tyre management will be more important than in recent seasons.

"I think this year is going to be more difficult to manage the tyres, even though they are a little bit harder," said Bottas.

"I think with more torque you need to be more careful with the throttle pedal. It's quite easy to break the traction and that way put temperature through the surface of the tyre.

"That is going to be a bit more tricky, and still the conditions are quite cool, so I think managing tyres will be more critical than last year."

Force India returnee Nico Hulkenberg, who set the fastest time on the opening day of the Bahrain test, agrees the torque of the new engines will make it difficult to protect the rear tyres.

"It's certainly very easy to achieve [wheelspin]," he said.

"You can do it quite easily and I've had instances of that on the straights, or doing double wheelspin and pulling black marks for 100 meters out of slow corners, which is quite fun but not exactly good for performance.

"The tyres are pretty tricky to handle in terms of degradation. It's easy to spin up the rear and degrade them, so I can see that being a bit of a challenge."

Gary Anderson predicts 2014 F1 pecking order

Bottas says the combination of needing to protect the tyres and save enough fuel to make it to the end of the race, all while battling for track position, will make Formula 1 a real challenge for drivers this year.

"For keeping within the fuel limit Bahrain is actually one of the more difficult," he added.

"I feel I've improved a lot with the different fuel saving techniques to be as efficient as possible.

"From the driver's point of view, saving fuel without losing too much lap time will be very important this year. It's not only going to be the tyres to manage.

"Of course we have some computers to help us, but it in the end it's up to the driver to save the fuel without losing the lap time."

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