Mercedes dominate in Bahrain testing

The second winter testing session of the season was another firmly chalked up for all the Mercedes powered teams.

Whilst Ferrari powered cars continued to consistently plod along seemingly under the radar and Renault struggled.

Renault of course did improve during the session, but so did Mercedes and they really began to show the potential that this engine has to offer.

In total mileage, the statistics for laps completed are remarkable, compare the 624 laps over 8 days of testing for Mercedes and compare it to reigning quadruple F1 champions Red Bull’s total of 137.

Then in lap times, Daniel Ricciardo set the best time for Red Bull Racing during the four days, but his time was a staggering 6.5 seconds slower than Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes.

‘The feeling is positive. We’re looking quite good, even on pace, but I don’t want to say more than that because I don’t know myself yet,’ said Rosberg to the BBC.

The German’s time on day four was a second quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s day three time, which in turn was almost a second quicker than Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren.

Jenson Button set the fourth fastest time with an almost identical time to that of his new rookie team-mate.

‘There’s a lot of work to do for everyone before the first race and you can see by the difference in lap times from the quickest car and slowest car, it’s massive.

‘I’m sure we’re not all running the same spec and the same tyres in the same conditions, but still there’s a massive gap. I’m sure it will be closer by the first race and I feel that we will be ready for the first race. But there’s a lot of work for us to do in the limited time we have.’ Jenson Button told Sky Sports.

Mercedes powered cars continued to post hot times with Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India completing the top five.

The Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were sixth and seventh, three seconds off the pace.

Kimi Raikkonen also endured a crash towards the end of the final session of the final day in which the 2007 Formula One World Champion took full responsibility for.

‘I spun, hit the wall and that is it, I spun on the kerb at the exit of turn 4, these things can happen! Luckily, it was right at the end of the day, I’m only sorry because it means the team now has more work to do.’ he told the media.

Williams, Sauber and the Force India of Sergio Perez then showed that they were all hotly competitive, with just half a second separating Massa, Gutierrez, Bottas, Perez and Nasr.

Nine of the bottom eleven placed cars were Renault powered teams, with Lotus, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Caterham continuing to be a step or two behind.

‘I think we could be the lead Renault team. We certainly haven’t gone badly this week compared to the other Renault teams and I know they’re having a few problems,’ Lotus Technical Director Nick Chester told Sky Sports.

‘All we can do really at the moment is just focus on ourselves and do the best job we can. Because even if we’re the best Renault-engined team, we’ve still got to push on and catch the other guys.’