Martini brand on Williams Mercedes FW36. A Williams Martini Racing photo
, 6 March 2014: Martini, the world’s leading vermouth and best-selling Italian sparkling wine, in partnership with Williams, announced on Thursday a multi-year agreement that unites two of the most iconic brands in Formula One racing, creating Williams Martini Racing. The announcement was made during an event held here, as part of the 2014 team launch, a Williams team release said.
“We are thrilled to welcome Martini to the Williams family and officially launch Williams Martini Racing,” said Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal, Williams. “Williams and Martini share a rich history in the world of motorsport, and the values of our two brands and our shared passion for racing make this partnership a natural fit. It will be great to see the distinctive stripes of Martini Racing™ return to Formula One™ once again in unison with Williams.”
“The decision to partner with Williams was a natural one for us as it provides an unparalleled opportunity for the Martini brand to connect with consumers through one of their lifestyle passions, Formula One™ racing,” said Andy Gibson, Chief Marketing Officer of Bacardi and President of Bacardi Global Brands, who oversees marketing for Martini other premium brands in the Bacardi portfolio. “Martini will give consumers a taste of life in the fast lane, bringing a renewed sense of Italian style and glamour to the track and beyond. Williams Martini Racing provides a powerful, integrated marketing platform and delivers dynamic opportunities that will strengthen the Martini brand.”
Sakhir, 2 March 2014: Formula One’s pre-season testing programme finished today with the fourth day of the second test at the Bahrain International Circuit. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the session though it was a far from faultless day for 2014’s presumptive favourites. Mercedes, however, were not alone in having a troubled end to winter testing, and eight red flags during the day led to the test finishing under floodlights as an extra 25 minutes was tacked on to the end of running time. Although Sebastian Vettel did 77 laps, the Renault-powered team is yet sort out issues as the world champion feels that the issues not just about pace. Will the Sun set on Red Bull this year? Only time will tell….
Red Bull continues to face issues at the Bahrain Testing which ended Sunday. An FIA photo
The news before the scheduled start was that Sauber had elected to split their day with Adrian Sutil driving in the morning and Esteban Gutiérrez in the afternoon. Sutil did not get a time on the board yesterday as the C33 suffered a failure on its installation lap and was therefore given more time in the car. Also continuing from day three were Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Racing (scheduled, though he too failed to record a time on Saturday), Nico Hülkenberg for Force India and Romain Grosjean for Lotus.
Elsewhere, the final day of testing saw Fernando Alonso return for Ferrari, Valtteri Bottas for Williams, Jenson Button for McLaren, Max Chilton for Marussia, Kamui Kobayashi for Caterham and Jean-Eric Vergne for Toro Rosso.
After a flurry of early installation laps is was Hülkenberg who completed the first timed lap of the day, setting the standard with 1:38.560. Button and then Bottas went through quicker, with Bottas dropping the benchmark several times to end the first hour of the session with a time of 1:36.281 and thirteen laps on the board. Ten of the 11 teams had appeared at that point, the notable absentee being Mercedes. The team reported it was having gearbox problems and would be delayed in starting its programme.
90 minutes into the session Alonso rose to the top with a lap of 1:35.509. The Ferrari stayed there for 40 minutes before Bottas retook the position with 1:35.153. He subsequently improved on that at noon his best time was 1:34.797.
“We’ve learnt a lot over the course of these last few weeks and overall it’s been a good winter of testing for us.”
Lewis Hamilton
The two standout features of the morning were the non-appearance of Mercedes and the unusual situation of the session having run interrupted for three hours from its commencement. Sadly the latter situation was the first to change with Vettel causing the first red flag of the day at 1202. It was difficult to tell what Vettel’s problem had been because while the car appeared to be smoking it also came to a halt pointing in the wrong direction. The team later identified a front-end mechanical issue.
The session was green flagged with a little over 40 minutes remaining before the scheduled lunch break. That was enough time to see Hamilton begin his day in the W05 and also for a second red flag, this time caused by Grosjean halting the E22, causing teams to begin their lunch break five minutes early.
After two red flags in the final hour before lunch, a further six post-lunch made for a disjointed final afternoon, interrupting many teams’ attempts to complete a race simulation. McLaren were responsible for the first with Button parking the MP4-29 after it suffered an engine failure – albeit one attributed to the unit being high-mileage rather than problematic. McLaren mechanics would spend the rest of the afternoon replacing the engine, but Button only had time to add one further lap to his tally, finishing the day with 22 on the board, the lowest of any runner.
The next stoppage was caused by Grosjean, flames visible at the rear of his car. This was proved to be terminal for the E22 and ended the participation of Lotus three hours before the scheduled close. Hülkenberg caused the next red flag with 90 minutes remaining and while fast work by the marshals and Force India crew got the session restarted in quick time, the track went from green to red almost immediately as Alonso stopped the Ferrari.
By this point, however, Kobayashi had passed the 100-lap mark, reinforcing the perception that Caterham, while never troubling the top of the timesheets, was the most reliable of the Renault-powered cars. Vettel was making up ground after his morning spin, albeit running at reduced speed well off the long-run pace of Red Bull’s rivals.
“We did a lot of laps today so that was useful,” said the World Champion when the session concluded. “We tried to do a race distance today; for one reason or another that didn’t work out, but in two week’s time things should look a little bit different. Obviously it’s difficult to know where the car is. It’s not just the number of laps you do, but also the type. There are so many different running options, not just with tyres and high or low fuel, there are engine options as well – full power, low power etc, so it’s impossible to say where we are. We know we have to catch up in a lot of areas, but that said, I’m happy today, we did a lot of laps, we learned a lot and it was a positive end to a tough week here.”
With 25 minutes officially added to the day’s running, Mercedes upped the ante for the final hour and a half by pointing out only 34km separated themselves and Williams at the top of the pre-season mileage chart – but Williams participation in that particular race was hampered when Bottas caused the seventh red flag of the day, stopping on the main straight – this did, however, allow Williams to wheel the car back to the garage without the tow truck, giving them bragging rights of not having troubled the marshals across all 12 days of testing.
“We know we have to catch up in a lot of areas, but that said, I’m happy today, we did a lot of laps, we learned a lot and it was a positive end to a tough week here.”
Sebastian Vettel
Running resumed after a very short hiatus but it did so without Caterham, the team calling a halt to their day early with a clutch problem. Force India also stopped early with another component failure put down to high mileage rather than an underlying problem.
With the floodlights coming on Hamilton was making up for his lost morning and set the fastest time of the day with a lap of 1:33.278. This was comfortably quicker than Bottas’ best effort but two-tenths slower than the fastest time of the test set by Felipe Massa on Saturday. There was time before the end for one more red flag – this one intentional as Sauber ran their car out of fuel. The session restarted with 11 minutes remaining and with Red Bull currently bottom of the timesheet. Perhaps considering morale more than engineering necessity, Vettel increased speed in the RB10 for the final minutes and moved up to 9th.
Mercedes ended the 12 days of testing with the most laps completed and the lion share of fastest lap accolades, and so go on to Melbourne perceived to be favorites for victory. Hamilton, however, was downplaying those expectations in his post-session comments:
“This has definitely been the most challenging winter I’ve experienced and the car is still very much a work in progress,” he said. “We’ve learnt a lot over the course of these last few weeks and overall it’s been a good winter of testing for us. There’s been an incredible amount of work put in by the team back at the two factories and on track.
“There’s so much to learn with these new cars; it’s just mind-blowing and I don’t think anybody can be fully ready for the challenge of this season. But I feel as ready as I can be and I’m looking forward to seeing where we are in Melbourne.”
There are 12 days before Friday practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
2014 second Bahrain test day four – unofficial times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.278 69
2 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:33.987 +0.709 108laps
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:34.280 +1.002 74laps
4 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:35.577 +2.299 74laps
5 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.701 +2.423 74laps
6 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:36.467 +3.189 91laps
7 Max Chilton Marussia 1:36.835 +3.557 61laps
8 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:37.303 +4.025 86laps
9 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:37.468 +4.190 77laps
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.111 +4.833 22laps
11 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:38.391 +5.113 106laps
12 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:39.302 +6.024 32laps
Sakhir, 2 March 2014: The last day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit here, brought to an end the three Testing sessions before the new season begins in Melbourne, with the first of the 19 races scheduled for March 16.
The talk of the town is the lack of speed for champions Red Bull, but as the teams try to finalise different issues, the ten days before the season opener become crucial. Sebastian Vettel finally was able to complete 77 laps for Red Bull, the highest on a day, thus far.
Many feel that the time sheets may not reveal the true pace right now, but one important factor may be the “homologation” . Teams will not have much leeway once the engines are homologated and the last date ended on Feb 28. So Renault-powered Red Bull may not be as dominant as they were for the last three years. However, the team is still capable of pulling back as the season progresses and one should not forget that the points are doubled for the last race. So the battles will still be interesting.
At the moment, the Mercedes-powered teams are in the forefront and Sahara Force India, have put behind the problems to Sahara Group’s chief, and completed its pre-season testing programme in Bahrain as Nico Hulkenberg clocked up 74 laps in the VJM07.
Day Four Statistics:
Chassis: VJM07-01
Laps: 74 laps
Mileage: 401 km
Fastest lap: 1:35.577
Classification: P4
Nico Hulkenberg: “The final day of testing went pretty well. In the end we didn’t do the race simulation, but we did some long runs and signed off a lot of other things on the job list. We didn’t do as many laps as yesterday, but we still made progress and learned some new things. So it’s been two good days for me and I’m feeling pretty satisfied. You always want more time to prepare, but I think we’re in good shape. The car has come a long way since the first Jerez test and we have made progress every day.”
Andrew Green, Technical Director:
“The final day in Bahrain saw a continuation of yesterday’s work improving the car balance, collecting tyre data, and some long runs. Our programme ended slightly early with a suspected component failure, which was a result of high mileage, and so we didn’t manage to complete our target number of laps. Nonetheless our time in Bahrain has gone largely to plan with the mileage achieved during the previous three days leaving us in good shape going into Melbourne. We’re feeling positive about our reliability and have explored some encouraging directions for improving car performance. The other focus has been on our race readiness and we’ve done a great deal of homework to prepare the drivers for the challenge that awaits them in Melbourne.”
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Hulkenberg completes testing for Force India on Sunday. A Sahara Force India photo
Sakhir, 1 Mar 2014: Nico Hulkenberg returned to the cockpit of the VJM07 today as Sahara Force India completed the penultimate day of pre-season testing in Bahrain doing 100 or more laps for the third day.
Day Three Statistics:
Chassis: VJM07-01
Laps: 115 laps
Mileage: 622 km
Fastest lap: 1:36.205
Classification: P6
Nico Hulkenberg: “Lots of laps today, which is good, and it’s the third day in a row that the team has done more than 100 laps. When I jumped in the car this morning I could feel the progress the team has made since I last drove at the end of last week, so it shows we are moving in the right direction. The track conditions were quite tricky because it was windy, but otherwise it was a successful day and my feeling with the car is pretty good. We got through the test programme and hit the objectives for the day, including a race simulation in the afternoon. For the final day tomorrow we will continue doing our homework for Melbourne, ticking off the boxes and try and do another race simulation.”
Andrew Green, Technical Director:
“Once again we were able to do a lot of valuable work today and hit our target number of laps, which is very satisfying. At this stage of testing we still have lots of items to evaluate, but we’ve been able to combine this with giving Nico the opportunity to explore numerous set-up options ahead of Melbourne. He managed to try all the different tyre compounds available today and did three solid long runs at the end of the day, which went to plan. Nico also ran through some of the new procedures needed this year, especially those for grid formation.” -A Sahara Force India press release.Nico Hulkenberg at Bahrain Testing. A Sahara Force India photo
A short statement on the home page ot Formula One Teams’ Association at www.fota.co said:
As of the 28th of February 2014 FOTA will be disbanded, as a result of its members’ having re-evaluated their requirements in the face of a changing political and commercial landscape in Formula 1.
Sakhir, 28 Feb 2014: On the first day of pre-season testing a Ferrari topped the timesheet, since then every day has seen a car with a Mercedes engine go quickest. Today added a slight variation to the theme with the same driver going quickest for the second day in a row, with Force India’s Sergio Pérez once again the fastest man at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Along with Pérez, Daniel Ricciardo and Pastor Maldonado were continuing for Red Bull and Lotus respectively, while the other eight teams opted to switch drivers for day two of this final test. That saw Fernando Alonso appearing for Ferrari, Fel
Sergio Perez tops time sheets again on Day 2 during the Bahrain testing on Friday. A Sahara Force India photo
ipe Massa for Williams and Jenson Button at McLaren. Jules Bianchi stepped into the Marussia, Lewis Hamilton took over at Mercedes, Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso, Esteban Gutiérrez for Sauber and Marcus Ericsson at Caterham.
It was Pérez who set the first time of the day with a lap of 1:46.166. He followed that with a more representative 1:38.014 on his next lap. That stood for half an hour before Alonso announced his presence, going quickest with 1:37.274, before the Mexican driver took top spot back with 1:36.440, 90 minutes into running.
That came shortly after the first red red flag period of the day. Hamilton beached at Turn Three on new hard tyres. Mercedes, tongue-in-cheek, suggested they were testing the gravel. Running resumed as soon as the W05 was recovered and continued until Button necessitated a second red flag, slowing to a halt with a mechanical issue some two and a half hours into the session.
Repairing the McLaren took much of the day but Button was able to resume with 75 minutes of the day remaining and finished the session with a long run.
“We had a problem within the gearbox,” said Button after the chequered flag. “It took a while to change – as anything within the power-unit does these days – but we got back out at the end, and everything ran smoothly, which was good. It was a shame to lose that time – it’s the first major issue we’ve had this winter; but it’s better to suffer it here, rather than at a race weekend.
“We were still able to do a long-run on high-fuel this afternoon. The basic car is good, and there’s a great deal of potential there, but there’s still a lot of work to do. We have a good understanding of the power-unit, and we know how to race it, but, in terms of balance and grip, the car isn’t quite there yet.”
When running resumed shortly before noon, everyone had a time on the board baring Ricciardo, who to that point had only managed installation laps. That would change soon after with the Australian getting on the board with a lap of 1:40.867. Shortly before that, however, Pérez had improved upon his best lap, lowering the benchmark to 1:35.570. That time would stand until the end of the session, despite Force India completing 75 laps after lunch.
“It feels very good to have another full day and to do so many laps,” said Pérez. It’s my last time in the car until we arrive in Melbourne and I’m feeling positive about how things are going. The set-up work today was very useful because we tried some different things to have a better direction for the first race. Everything went to plan and we managed to complete all the long runs in the afternoon.”
After lunch it was Lotus’ turn to bring out a red flag as Maldonado’s E22 caught fire. It was sufficiently serious to end Lotus’ participation on day two. “We had a localised fire in the car which ended our running early and caused a reasonable amount of damage to the E22,” said trackside operations director Alan Permane. “We’re inspecting the chassis and installation very carefully to deduce the cause of the fire and rectify any issues we find. Clearly this is not how we wanted to spend our day, but our focus is getting the most from the remaining days of the test.”
Less spectacular was Mercedes decision to end their day 90 minutes before the close with a gearbox problem, but track marshals had to deal with another fire when Ericsson was required to exit the Caterham quickly as it started to burn, causing the final red flag of the day. It wasn’t all bad news for the Renault teams, however, as Vergne completed 61 laps for Toro Rosso and Ricciardo 66 for Red Bull. The Australian finished the day third quickest in the RB10, less than two-tenths off the best time of the day – though with Red Bull still lagging behind in its pre-season programme, the comparison with teams concentrating on long runs is invalid.
“It went a lot better today,” said Ricciardo. “In the afternoon we did some good stuff. We had a go on the soft tyre, which was nice, to see how the car responds with a bit more grip. We also did one long run at the end, which was very important, just to see how the car is behaving with the tyres. A big improvement everywhere over yesterday and a much more optimistic outlook now I think. We still have a lot to learn and understand, but we’re making progress and the past two days have been a big step in the right direction.”
Testing continues tomorrow.
2014 second Bahrain test day two – unofficial times
1 Sergio Pérez Force India 1:35.570s 108laps
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:35.634s +0.064s 122laps
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:35.743s +0.173s 66laps
4 Felipe Massa Williams 1:36.507s +0.937s 103laps
5 Jenson Button McLaren 1:36.901s +1.331s 52laps
6 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:38.092s +2.522s 75laps
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:39.041s +3.471s 89laps
8 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.636s +4.066s 61laps
9 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:39.976s +4.406s 106laps
10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:41.613s +6.043s 31laps
11 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:42.516s +6.946s 55laps
Sergio Perez who topped the time sheets in Bahrain on Thursday. A Sahara Force India photoBahrain: After a four-day hiatus Formula One returned to the Bahrain International Circuit today to begin its final pre-season group test before shipping out to Australia and the first grand prix of the 2014 season. Force India’s Sergio Pérez recorded the fastest lap of the day, though few teams seemed to be searching for outright pace. Headline times were several seconds slower than those recorded at the circuit last week. Instead, the day saw the front runners largely focussing on long-run pace and – as is now expected at the last test of the winter – fitting aerodynamic parts closer to a race-specification than those seen previously.
Pérez finished nine-tenths of a second quicker than Valtteri Bottas, though the Finn recorded the highest mileage of the day, with 128 laps for Williams. Kimi Räikkönen for Ferrari was third quickest, Nico Rosberg fourth for Mercedes and Adrian Sutil fifth for Sauber. McLaren’ Kevin Magnussen was sixth fastest. He completed 109 laps, joining Pérez (105) and Bottas in three figures. That was seventy laps more than seventh-fastest Daniel Ricciardo managed for Red Bull – he did, however, had the consolation of being the fastest of the Renault-engined cars. Eighth on the timesheet was Marussia’s Max Chilton who was followed by Daniil Kvyat for Toro Rosso, Pastor Maldonado for Lotus and Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi.
Bottas was the first man out on track, leaving the garage almost immediately the pitlane exit light turned green, though all 11 teams were lapping within the first half-hour. The first time of the day was set by Ricciardo, with a 1:40.262. The Australian dropped that to 1:38.642 moments later, over a second faster than the RB10 managed at the previous test.
If that were a reassuring start for one Renault team, the opposite was true at another as Caterham caused the first red flag of the day, with Kobayashi pulling his smoking car over 40 minutes into the session.
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg gave the timesheet a familiar shape when he went fastest an hour and a half after the start with a lap of 1:37.722. That stood as the benchmark for an hour before Pérez took a second out of it with a lap of 1:36.051. He then improved to 1:35.290 as the lunch break approached.
“We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it,” said Pérez. “We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it’s been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car. Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.”
In a change to the timetable for the previous test, a half-hour break was scheduled for 1300, compensated with an extra half hour on track at the end of the day. The change was for the benefit of the track marshals rather than the teams – though some had a busy lunch break as Pastor Maldonado stopped out on track a few minutes before the interval. Lotus had been trialling a new exhaust system and later revealed this to be the source of the breakdown. They did not run again during the day.
After lunch Kvyat caused another red flag, stopping the Toro Rosso at Turn Two but there was happier news from the other Italian team. An unspecified glitch had restricted Raikkonen to just 12 laps in the morning but Ferrari were able to resolve the issue and allow the Finn a full afternoon of running – though it was he who brought the session to a slightly premature conclusion, stopping out on track a few minutes before the scheduled close.
Things were going the other way at Red Bull. Ricciardo completed 32 laps in the morning but failed to build on that, spending much of the afternoon in the garage as the team suffered a problem with its exhaust. Ricciardo added a further seven laps at the end of the day – but with Red Bull wanting a significant increase in track time this week, it was not the ideal start to proceedings.
“We sent Daniel out for a long-ish run, but we had to abort about five laps in, as we noticed some issues on the sensors,” explained race engineering co-ordinator Andy Damerum. “We brought him in, had a look at the car and discovered that we had a problem with the exhaust. So we had a long afternoon in the garage, but we did manage to get Daniel back out at the end of the session, which was good. We have some work to do overnight but hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to run in a similar style to this morning.”
Testing continues tomorrow and will run until Sunday.
2014 second Bahrain test day one – unofficial times
1 Sergio Pérez Force India 1m35.290s 105laps
2 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m36.184s +0.894s 128laps
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1m36.432s +1.142s 54laps
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m36.624s +1.334s 89laps
5 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1m37.700s +2.410s 89laps
6 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1m37.825s +2.535s 109laps
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1m37.908s +2.618s 39laps
8 Max Chilton Marussia 1m38.610s +3.320s 44laps
9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1m39.242s +3.952s 56laps
10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1m40.599s +5.309s 31laps
11 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1m42.285s +6.995s 19laps
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The dispersion of water increases from 60 to 65 l/s (+ 8%)
Milan, 26 Feb 2014: Teams will get their final chance to test the 2014 P Zero tyres and prepare for the forthcoming Formula One season at the last four-day test in Bahrain this week. Coming straight off the back of the previous four-day test in Bahrain last week, the teams will be able to keep up their testing momentum as they assess the four new slick compounds in the Pirelli range: P Zero Orange hard, P Zero White medium, P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft. At the first test of the year in Jerez, the teams also got the chance to test the Cinturato Green intermediate tyres and Cinturato Blue full wets. Please see and utilise the attached copyright-free 3D video, the first of a series of to be issued by Pirelli this year, which explains the precise functionality of the tyres.
Here is how the Pirelli Formula One tyre range looks in 2014:
P Zero Orange hard
The toughest tyre of the range is designed for circuits that are often characterised by high ambient temperatures, putting the highest energy loadings through the tyres with fast corners or abrasive surfaces. The compound takes longer to warm up, but offers maximum durability – which frequently means that it plays a key role in race strategy. This is a high working range compound. Like all the 2014 tyres, this is a brand new compound with a new construction to meet the requirements of the latest cars, with increased torque, extra energy recovery systems, but reduced aerodynamics.
P Zero White medium
Theoretically this is the most perfectly balanced of all the tyres, with an ideal compromise between performance and durability. As a result, it is very versatile, but often comes into its own on circuits that tend towards high speeds and energy loadings. This is a low working range compound. As is the case with all the 2014 tyres, there is a new profile at the front to take into account the altered vehicle dynamics and improve handling.
P Zero Yellow soft
This is one of the tyres most frequently used tyres in the range, striking a very good balance between performance and durability, with the accent on performance. It is still biased towards speed rather than long distances, but is nonetheless capable of providing a competitive advantage both at the beginning of the race on full fuel and when used as a ‘sprint’ tyre at the end. This is a high working range compound. All the compounds are generally slightly harder than their equivalents last year, in order to deliver the same performance despite the extra forces placed on the tyres.
P Zero Red supersoft
The softest compound in the range is ideal for slow and twisty circuits, especially in cold weather, when maximum mechanical grip is needed. The supersoft benefits from an extremely rapid warm-up time, which makes it ideal in qualifying as well, but the flip side to that important characteristic is of course increased degradation. This is a low working range compound. One of the key evolutions this year has been optimisation of the footprint pressure and temperature distribution. This presents a more even contact with the asphalt, improving grip and handling.
Cinturato Green intermediate
The intermediates are the most versatile of the rain tyres, dispersing approximately 25 litres of water per second at full speed. They can be used on a wet as well as a drying track. The Cinturato Green is a new concept for this year, with a number of the development aspects also transferred to the full wet tyre.
Cinturato Blue wet
The full wet tyres can disperse up to 65 litres of water per second at full speed (increased from 60 litres last year) making them the most effective solution for heavy rain. The latest evolution of the Cinturato Blue means that it is also effective on a drying track, with increased durability. The full wet tyre has a new compound and a redesigned rear tread pattern to further reduce aquaplaning. The result of this intensive work is increased driveability in a wide variety of conditions.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery: “We saw more work on tyres at the recent Bahrain test than there had been at the very first test in Jerez, and with teams likely to be attempting more qualifying and race simulations this week in preparation for the opening grand prix, we would expect this upward curve of tyre work to continue over the final four days in Bahrain. It’s still early days, but so far we’ve seen both performance and durability from our latest P Zero tyres, which all feature new compounds and structures to maximise the unique power characteristics of the latest-generation cars. The contact patch is greater, to help put down the extra torque, and the working ranges are wider to reduce degradation. As the lap times in Bahrain have shown, we’re already very close to 2013 levels of performance, despite much smaller capacity engines and a completely fresh set of technical challenges.”
Testing Facts:
Teams are allowed an overall maximum total of 135 sets of tyres for testing this year, including the in-season tests. The maximum total for the three pre-season tests is 85 sets of tyres: 25 sets for Jerez and 30 each for the two Bahrain tests.
Teams have a certain number of fixed compound choices totalling 22 sets per car in Bahrain (see table below). On top of that each team was also able to choose in advance eight more sets to try in Bahrain. The ‘base’ slick compounds – ‘winter’, hard, medium and soft – were selected by Pirelli in advance together with the teams to reflect the characteristics of Bahrain.
More Testing Facts and Figures:
Compound
Amount provided per team *
Fastest time in 2013 **
Supersoft
N/A
N/A
Soft
2
N/A
Medium
10
1.32.330
Hard
8
1.36.961
‘Winter’ hard
2
N/A
Intermediate
N/A
N/A
Wet
N/A
N/A
* Above choice made by Pirelli in agreement with the teams. Each team could choose further 8 sets for this test.
** Based on the results of the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix.
24 Feb 2014: The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has today announced an extension to its agreement with OMP Racing S.p.A., with the Italian motor sport company continuing as Official Supplier of Racewear to the federation in 2014 and 2015.
OMP Racing is a world leader in the design and creation of accessories and components for motor sport and among other initiatives it will be supplying technical racing clothing to FIA Officials and Safety Car Drivers across a range of the federation’s championships. This will include fireproof overalls, shoes, gloves and underwear, products that were researched and developed in the company’s manufacturing facility located in Ronco Scrivia, near Genoa (Italy).
Commenting on the agreement FIA President Jean Todt said: “The FIA is pleased to be able to continue its relationship with OMP for the supply of racewear to our personnel. Safety is always at the heart of the FIA’s motor sport mission and it is crucial that our event officials have access to equipment that meets the rigorous standards we set in this regard. OMP has been a leader in its field for over four decades and we are looking forward to working closely with the company in the coming years in order to further enhance safety and efficiency across our championships.”
Paolo Delprato, OMP C.E.O., added: “The extension of our agreement with the FIA, the top authority that guarantees safety in motor sport, is a further confirmation of the good work we have been carrying on for over 40 years. For some years the focus of our R&D department has been directed towards the development of leading products that blend performance, quality, comfort and safety. Therefore, being chosen by the FIA as official supplier is very satisfying, as it is a further demonstration of our competence. OMP is also very pleased that it is to be the exclusive supplier of FIA technical clothing for the Formula E electric single-seater championship, which, commencing in September 2014, will represent the biggest innovation in motor sport of the last few years. This is a real challenge for the future, and one in which OMP is delighted to take part.”
Bahrain, 22 Feb Mercedes tops time charts on the last day of testing at Bahrain on 22 Feb 2014. A photo by Pirelli Tyres2014: The Formula One teams have been able to complete more testing distance with Pirelli’s new 2014 range of tyres in Bahrain, as they begin to get a better picture of how the latest tyres interact with the radically different new cars. A number of teams were able to complete race simulations, as well as qualifying and pit stop practice, assessing every aspect of tyre usage. Weather conditions remained dry and warm, in the region of 20 degrees centigrade or higher: temperatures that are much more representative of the season as a whole.
In accordance with the nominations they had made in advance, the teams were able to try out the entire 2014 range of P Zero tyres in Bahrain, as well as a special ‘winter’ hard compound, with a faster warm-up.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director:
“The teams were able to learn more about tyres over the four days in Bahrain than they could in Jerez two weeks ago, thanks to increased running time and optimal weather conditions. Although the teams are still at a comparatively early point on the development curve with their new cars, testing data so far indicates that the 2014 tyres are more consistent and durable than their predecessors. As a result, we are also seeing fewer ‘marbles’ on the circuit: one of our objectives at the start of this season. However, teams are likely to improve their performance and understanding of the car-tyre package still further in the test to come, which means that the lap time differences we have been seeing between the compounds are likely to come down: especially when the teams discover more downforce as the season goes on. We’ve collected plenty of useful data from this test, but of course we are still ready and able to change the specification of the tyres for the start of the season if this is shown to be necessary.”
Testing Facts:
Teams ramped up their distance considerably over the four days of the test. In total, 482 laps were completed on the first day of the test, with 676 laps on day two, 695 laps on day three and 469 laps on day four.
Teams had a maximum of 30 sets of tyres per car to test in Bahrain. Pirelli, in conjunction with the teams, chose 22 of those sets (plus an extra medium ‘prototype’ set – used to test the performance of tyres without tyre warmers, which is part of the 2015 regulations). The teams were then able to choose in advance the remaining eight sets, up to their maximum permitted total of 30. In total, 135 sets of tyres are allowed per team for testing purposes throughout 2014.
The performance differences in Bahrain between the compounds so far are approximately as follows: the supersoft is around 0.7s per lap faster than the soft, the soft is around 1.2s per lap quicker than the medium, and the medium is around 1.3s per lap quicker than the hard. These gaps should come down considerably as the cars evolve.
More Testing Facts:
A total of 24 drivers took part in the Bahrain test, completing 2,322 laps and 12,566 kilometres. Last year, the second test of the year took place in Barcelona, over exactly the same four-day period, during which the drivers completed 16,006 kilometres.
The total testing distance completed so far this year, combining Jerez and Bahrain is 3,792 laps and 19,074 kilometres. This time last year, the teams had completed 6,970 laps and 31,640 kilometres of pre-season testing (Jerez and Barcelona 2013 combined).
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the Bahrain test, with a time of 1m33.283s on Saturday with the P Zero Yellow soft. By way of comparison, the fastest race lap at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year was 1m36.961s, set by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix last year was 1m32.330s: within a second of Rosberg’s fastest test time today. At the Bahrain race last year, pole was also set by Rosberg.
The highest number of total laps completed at this year’s Bahrain test by any one driver was 174 laps, from Nico Rosberg (Mercedes). Williams driver Valtteri Bottas set the second-highest total, 171 laps.
Testing numbers:
Total number of sets brought to Bahrain: 341 sets which equals 1,364 tyres
– of which supersoft tyres: 14 sets
– of which soft tyres: 61 sets
– of which medium tyres: 139 sets
– of which hard tyres: 94 sets
– of which ‘winter’ hard tyres: 28 sets
– of which intermediate tyres: 3 sets
– of which wet tyres: 2 sets
Total amount of sets used: 199
– of which supersoft tyres: 5 sets
– of which soft tyres: 37 sets
– of which medium tyres: 89 sets
– of which hard tyres: 51 sets
– of which ‘winter’ tyres: 17 sets
– of which intermediate tyres: 0 sets
– of which wet tyres: 0 sets
Longest run:
16 laps on the supersoft compound
16 laps of the soft compound
22 laps on the medium compound
22 laps on the hard compound
9 laps on the ‘winter’ compound
0 laps on the intermediate compound
0 laps on the wet compound
Highest / lowest ambient temperature over four days: 27 °C / 17 °C
Highest / lowest track temperature over four days: 37 °C / 18 °C
Testing Times:
Day 1
1. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1m36.880s on Soft New
2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1m37.879s on Medium New
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m37.908s on Hard New
Day 2
1. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) 1m34.910s on Supersoft New
2. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) 1m36.445s on Soft New
3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1m36.516s on Soft Used
Day 3
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m34.263s on Soft New
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1m34.976s on Supersoft New
3. Felipe Massa (Williams) 1m37.066s on Soft New
Day 4
1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1m33.283s on Soft New
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) 1m34.957s on Soft New
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1m36.718s on Soft New
ends
