Mercedes out in front during private testing in Bahrain

The Formula 1 field has already faced off on the Sakhir circuit located on the island of Bahrain, but before leaving, the first private tests of the season took place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

As often, it is Mercedes that places its cars at the top of the timesheets, but not without difficulty. On the first day, it was Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel to improve tire management, the true Achilles’ heel of the triple world champion team this season, especially against Ferrari. However, an electrical connection issue immobilized the Mercedes on the track, triggering a red flag to clear the German machine.

The single-seater was able to quickly return to the track to carry out a program made up of short and long stints. As a result, it posted the fastest time of the day at 1:31.358 with a total of 96 laps completed. On Tuesday, it was Valtteri Bottas who took over from the Brit. The program included work on aerodynamics and long stints to test the tires. Despite a red flag caused by a minor issue on the Mercedes, the Finn recorded the fastest time of 1:31.360 with 134 laps completed.

At Ferrari’s camp, times are quite close as they have been since the beginning of the season. On the first day, it was the third Ferrari driver Antonio Giovinazzi who was behind the wheel, effortlessly completing laps and diligently working on the program. The Italian eventually covered 93 laps and set a second-quickest time of 1:31.984. The next day was more difficult for Sebastian Vettel, who was already behind the wheel the day before for Pirelli. In fact, a hydraulic leak during a setup change prevented the Scuderia from making any laps in the morning. The rest of the day was laborious as the team faced electrical supply problems that prevented access to telemetry. Consequently, Vettel’s program lasted 64 laps, securing a second-fastest time of 1:31.547.

On the Red Bull side, it was Daniel Ricciardo who was on duty Tuesday to focus on an aerodynamic program to continue working on a chassis that is difficult to adjust and lacking in downforce. Running was limited in the morning due to new issues affecting the rebadged Tag Heuer engine. The rest of the day was more prolific with a total of 45 laps, with the best time being a third place at 1:32.349. The following day, it was the French driver Pierre Gasly who was on track. The third driver for Red Bull and Toro Rosso carried out extensive work to optimize the RB13 chassis without any technical issues. By the end of the day, the 2016 GP2 champion had completed 65 laps, with his best lap being a 1:32.586, which was the tenth fastest time (out of 12).

At Haas, the first driver in the car was Romain Grosjean, who focused on evaluating Carbone Industrie brakes to potentially replace the Brembo brakes that are still causing issues on the car. On the stopwatch, the Frenchman clocked a third-best time of 1:32.452 with a total of 87 laps. On Wednesday, Kevin Magnussen took over to continue the brake comparison. Ultimately, it was a fifth-best time of 1:32.120 for 88 laps completed.

Williams rotated its lineup on the first day with Felipe Massa in the morning and Lance Stroll in the afternoon, completing 91 laps. On Wednesday, it was the Briton Gary Paffett who drove the Williams. The DTM driver hadn’t driven in private tests since 2013 and his time with McLaren. He completed 61 laps for the British team.

Bahrain Test = DONE
126 laps completed by @GaryPaffett today! #F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/fyH8CUq3LF
— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) April 19, 2017

Renault relied on its leader Nico Hülkenberg to conduct aerodynamic tests to improve the pace on long stints. Best time of 1:33.624 and 74 laps. The following day, third driver Sergey Sirotkin took the seat in the car with no less than 126 laps and a best time of 1:32.287.

Toro Rosso had a contrasting day with Sean Gelael, a young F2 driver mostly known for being financially supported by his father, who runs the Indonesian branch of KFC, rather than for his performance. The Italians’ machine was stopped for a while due to engine-related issues. The afternoon allowed for 78 laps. On Wednesday, the program was shared between Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz, with 60 and 68 laps respectively.

For Force India, it was the third Mexican driver, Alfonso Celis, who completed the first day of testing with 68 laps. The following day, the car was driven in turns by Esteban Ocon and then Sergio Pérez. The two main drivers therefore made a total of 155 laps on the Bahraini circuit.

Sauber will have successively lined up Marcus Ericsson on Tuesday and Pascal Wehrlein on Wednesday.

Finally, at McLaren, the two test sessions were radically different. Indeed, on Tuesday with their development driver Oliver Turvey, the day was catastrophic as a water leak in the ERS (the electric part of the engine) in the morning only allowed for two installation laps.

The Honda power unit was once again changed for the rest of the day to allow the Briton to complete 17 laps. The second day went much better as with Stoffel Vandoorne on board, McLaren was able to complete their program without issue, covering 81 laps. Team director Eric Boullier even described this session as the “best day” since the start of the year.