Formula 1

Hulkenberg heats up Bahrain as Renault rue day one woe

1 Mins read
Credit: Force India

Sahara Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg will be ending day one of the second day of Formula One testing with a smile on his face as his car set the fastest time after a strong day of testing.

Following 78 laps of solid testing, his lap of 1:36.880 on soft tyres put him faster than Sebastian Vettel’s fastest lap in last year’s grand prix effectively silencing those who claimed the 2014 machines would be slower.

Indeed Mercedes power in general was experiencing a good day, Lewis Hamilton set the early pace with 74 laps of trouble free testing warranting a time of 1:37.908 and third place behind Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari which overcame a smoky start as the testing began to finish just under a second behind Hulkenberg.

However, Bahrain was not completely trouble free initially even the start of the day’s running experienced problems. Due to a lack of marshals – or so Lotus tweeted – the start was delayed for 30 minutes, although the track officials claimed the delay was due to the teams.

In the event Red Bull would probably with there was no action at all, having spent almost all the morning encamped in the garage trying to resolve issues that still plagued them from Jerez, when they did go out they only managed 14 laps before a rear brake failure saw Vettel spin and bring out the last of a handful of red flags seen during the day.

It was not only the world champions that didn’t complete as many laps as they would have hoped, Lotus – who unveiled their twin tusk E22 (with one tusk bigger than the other to pass the crash tests) – completed only eight laps and were the slowest of all the teams which actually set a lap.

Toro Rosso could only complete five laps with Daniil Kvyat due to an oil leak, Felipe Massa could only complete five laps in the Williams because of a fuel leak and – most cryptically of all – Marussia could manage only three laps because of an ‘IT configuration issue.’

Whatever the reason these teams – especially Red Bull – will be hoping that day two in Bahrain brings better tidings. The action on track starts at 6am UK time.

814 posts

About author
3rd Year Multimedia Journalism Student at Teesside University, interested in motorsport and writing about it as well. I'm also a qualified pilot but I don't mention that much.
Articles
Related posts
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix - TCF Driver of the Weekend

2 Mins read
TheCheckeredFlag Driver of the Weekend is revealed for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix – What the Team Principals are Saying after the Race

7 Mins read
The ten Team Principals reflect on drivers performances at Albert Park during Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, a race that saw Ferrari claim their first win of 2024.
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix – What the Drivers are Saying after the Race – Part 2

7 Mins read
Those who missed out on points in Australia reflect on their races, including Max Verstappen, who retired from a Grand Prix for the first time since the same event in 2022.