Bahrain Tests 1 – Day 1: Hülkenberg Stands Out, Red Bull and Lotus at a Standstill

Nico Hülkenberg (Sahara Force India) set the fastest time on the first day of private testing in Bahrain 1. The German driver completed a lap in 1:36.880, which could have allowed him to achieve the fastest lap of the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix, proving that the performance of the F1 cars might not have dropped as much as expected with the arrival of the V6 Turbo engines.

Hülkenberg leads Alonso – whose day ended with an oil leak as he left the pits -, Hamilton, Magnussen, Vettel, and Sutil, who was the driver to complete the most laps today with 82 laps done, one more than Magnussen.

On the Red Bull side, problems persist, Vettel didn’t drive this morning and was only able to complete 14 laps this afternoon. The RB10 has improved according to the team, but a new mechanical issue impacted his day. The German also suffered from brake problems.

At Lotus, for the debut of the E22, not everything went smoothly, with Romain Grosjean completing only 8 laps. The car from the Enstone team appears to have suffered from a problem with the Renault fuel system.

The problems were also present at Toro Rosso – batteries and oil leak, at Williams – problem with the fuel system, at Mercedes – brake issues, and at Marussia – computer problem.

Ranking of the 1st day of private tests in Bahrain 1 – Tuesday, February 19, 2014: