Mercedes ahead as testing ends but Ferrari not far off

2014 F1 season

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The performance of the Mercedes factory team and their engine customers has been hard to ignore throughout testing.

Ferrari have been less eye-catching but while much attention has been focused on the three-pointed star, the prancing horse have made a solid start to the year as well.

The F14 Ts have been covered almost as much mileage as a the top Mercedes-powred cars and Fernando Alonso lapped within a second of them in the final day of testing today.

Through testing there has been a clear hierarchy dividing the three engine manufacturers – Mercedes at the top, Renault at the bottom, and Ferrari somewhere in the middle. It’s too early to say they won’t be close enough to Mercedes to give them a run for their money – especially given the rapid rate of development expected with this year’s cars.

Here’s the data from the 12 days of pre-season testing.

Mileage by engine

EngineTotal lapsTotal distance (km)
Mercedes3,48317,988.996
Ferrari1,96810,213.92
Renault1,6498,775.804

Mileage by team

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2013teamcolours.csv

28th Jan29th Jan30th Jan31st Jan19th Feb20th Feb21st Feb22nd Feb27th Feb28th Feb1st Mar2nd Mar
Red Bull13.28435.42413.28430.99675.768319.308151.53681.18211.068357.1925.412416.724
Mercedes79.704429.516274.536584.496400.488460.02362.604481.668481.668481.668557.436373.428
Ferrari137.268208.116256.824509.22346.368524.964238.128443.784292.248660.264470.844400.488
Lotus000043.29697.416140.712319.308167.772167.772178.596173.184
McLaren0190.404407.376487.08438.372248.952557.436357.192589.908281.424476.256119.064
Force India48.708163.83675.276358.668422.136319.308308.484102.828568.26584.496622.38400.488
Sauber30.996234.684150.552305.532443.784297.66519.55237.884481.668573.6725.412957.924
Toro Rosso66.420132.8439.85227.06313.896308.484102.828303.072330.132438.372400.488
Williams30.996154.98208.116380.80827.06627.792622.38470.844692.736557.436535.788584.496
Marussia0022.14110.716.23692.00421.64827.06238.128405.9422.136330.132
Caterham4.42848.70844.28239.112368.016357.192530.376113.652102.828297.66633.204573.672

The chart above shows how much mileage each team covered on each day. Here are their totals for the whole of testing:

TeamModelTotal lapsTotal distance (km)
MercedesW059744,967.23
WilliamsFW369364,893.43
FerrariF14 T8754,488.52
McLarenMP4-298124,153.46
SauberC337764,039.32
Force IndiaVJM077613,974.87
CaterhamCT056263,313.13
Toro RossoSTR94652,463.44
Red BullRB103201,711.18
MarussiaMR033171,686.08
LotusE222381,288.06

Best lap times by team

Bahrain

Combined times for eight days.

TeamDriverTimeGap
1WilliamsFelipe Massa1’33.258
2MercedesLewis Hamilton1’33.2780.020
3FerrariFernando Alonso1’34.2801.022
4McLarenKevin Magnussen1’34.9101.652
5Force IndiaSergio Perez1’35.2902.032
6Toro RossoJean-Eric Vergne1’35.7012.443
7Red BullDaniel Ricciardo1’35.7432.485
8SauberAdrian Sutil1’36.4673.209
9MarussiaMax Chilton1’36.8353.577
10CaterhamMarcus Ericsson1’38.0834.825
11LotusPastor Maldonado1’38.7075.449

Jerez

Combined times for four days.

TeamDriverTimeGap
1McLarenKevin Magnussen1’23.276
2WilliamsFelipe Massa1’23.7000.424
3MercedesLewis Hamilton1’23.9520.676
4FerrariKimi Raikkonen1’24.8121.536
5Force IndiaNico Hulkenberg1’26.0962.820
6Toro RossoJean-Eric Vergne1’29.9156.639
7SauberAdrian Sutil1’30.1616.885
8MarussiaJules Bianchi1’32.2228.946
9CaterhamMarcus Ericsson1’37.97514.699
10Red BullSebastian Vettel1’38.32015.044

Best lap times by driver – Bahrain

Pos.DriverTeamEngineTimeGapTyreDate
1Felipe MassaWilliamsMercedes1’33.258New super-soft1st Mar
2Lewis HamiltonMercedesMercedes1’33.2780.020New super-soft2nd Mar
3Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes1’33.2830.025New soft22nd Feb
4Valtteri BottasWilliamsMercedes1’33.9870.729New soft2nd Mar
5Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari1’34.2801.022New super-soft2nd Mar
6Kevin MagnussenMcLarenMercedes1’34.9101.652New super-soft20th Feb
7Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes1’34.9571.699New soft22nd Feb
8Sergio PerezForce IndiaMercedes1’35.2902.032New soft27th Feb
9Kimi RaikkonenFerrariFerrari1’35.4262.168New super-soft1st Mar
10Nico HulkenbergForce IndiaMercedes1’35.5772.319New super-soft2nd Mar
11Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoRenault1’35.7012.443New super-soft2nd Mar
12Daniel RicciardoRed BullRenault1’35.7432.485New soft28th Feb
13Daniil KvyatToro RossoRenault1’36.1132.855New super-soft1st Mar
14Adrian SutilSauberFerrari1’36.4673.209New super-soft2nd Mar
15Max ChiltonMarussiaFerrari1’36.8353.577New super soft2nd Mar
16Jules BianchiMarussiaFerrari1’37.0873.829New super-soft1st Mar
17Esteban GutierrezSauberFerrari1’37.1803.922New soft21st Feb
18Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault1’37.4684.210Used soft2nd Mar
19Felipe NasrWilliamsMercedes1’37.5694.311New medium22nd Feb
20Marcus EricssonCaterhamRenault1’38.0834.825New super-soft1st Mar
21Kamui KobayashiCaterhamRenault1’38.3915.133New soft2nd Mar
22Pastor MaldonadoLotusRenault1’38.7075.449New soft22nd Feb
23Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault1’39.3026.044New soft2nd Mar
24Robin FrijnsCaterhamRenault1’42.5349.276Used medium19th Feb

2014 F1 season


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Image © Mercedes/Hoch Zwei

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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33 comments on “Mercedes ahead as testing ends but Ferrari not far off”

  1. Mercedes for pole, with Williams right up there and the other Mercedes teams, punctuated by Ferrari and followed by Red Bull. That’s my prediction for Australia.

    1. I would say that Ferrari is behind Redbull.

      1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
        2nd March 2014, 15:52

        And you draw your conclusion based on?

          1. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
            2nd March 2014, 16:09

            lol

          2. Is it me or the times are 1:2x:xxx?

          3. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
            2nd March 2014, 16:14

            Those are 2013 tests

  2. Ferrari definitely getting there. Could be a while yet though.

  3. Vergne highest placed Renault-engine driver.
    Toro Rosso to beat RB for the first few races?

    1. mostly likely yes, but not because they have a faster car, but because Redbull have failed to get their faster car to run reliably. Redbull may not finish the first 5 races…. who knows, they could do a Ferrari from 1991, where Nigel Mansell won the first race when everyone expected the car to only last half the race.

      1. 1989 sorry

    2. On pure performance, I don’t think so. Ricciardo’s time was on day 2 and back then they weren’t focusing on performance too much, I think they can do better.
      Vettel probably didn’t even try a quali sim.

      That said, if Red Bull’s reliability doesn’t improve, Toro Rosso could very well beat them.

      1. Reminds me of another turbocharged Renault-powered “glass cannon” – the RS01.

  4. Really great to see Ferrari up there. I know it’s just testing, but +3 seconds after so many testing days was a little worrying.

    Could this be a great year for Williams and Massa with all these new regulations, like 2009 was for BrawnGP and Button ?!?

    1. I hope so!

  5. I have no idea where Ferrari stand. Not a bottom-half team by any means, but where are they in relation to the projected front-runners? Are they better than Williams, McLaren, or Force India? I wouldn’t put them ahead of Mercedes.

    I also have no idea where to place the Renault teams. Toro Rosso and Red Bull have pace, but almost zero reliability. Caterham have reliability, but not the pace. Lotus are a mess, and that’s a real shame considering how well the team has done in recent years and how highly I rate both drivers.

    1. bobby ferrazza
      2nd March 2014, 16:46

      It almost seems that Ferrari might be where they left off last year: Third or fourth fastest on single lap pace but faster on race pace. I read something about their planned updates before Australia but the article was confusing as to whether those parts came here already, or will only get bolted on before Australia.

  6. for Ferrari it could be a similar to past few years, slow in qualifying, fast in race. for Mercedes it could be the same also, fast in qualifying and slow in race.

  7. looking at qualifying lap time from Bahrain last year, Williams has made up the most lap time speed. Mercedes are slower then their qualifying time of last year by 1 second, while Williams are 1 second faster then their qualifying time. interpret that how you want to. I found it fascinating though. I haven’t even looked at red bulls times though because I know they have had reliability problems and can and will go much faster.

  8. Sad to see that the only day Red Bull did more laps than either Mercedes or Ferrari was the final day…

  9. cool to see Marussias splitting up Saubers, although, it’s likely an indication of Sauber’s weakness rather than Marussia’s strength. still…

  10. I thought Sky reported a confirmation by Mercedes that Lewis did that time on super-softs… But then again, it makes sense he used softs, because otherwise there would be an inexplicably big gap between him and Rosberg.

    1. @atticus-2, from the Autosport comments I interpreted that at the end he went out on super-softs, set a best S1, but then aborted that lap and did a 33.8 on the next lap. 33.2 on used softs is impressive though (I don’t know how used though – one aborted flying lap?).

    2. @atticus-2 @adrianmorse @wsrgo The data here is from Pirelli.

      Looks like Sky have changed their mind:

      https://twitter.com/SkySportsF1/status/440407770722889728

      1. !keithcolantine Er..no, Mercedes themselves say otherwise.. https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/440506301332746240

    3. @atticus-2 @adrianmorse @wsrgo Given the conflicting reports I asked Pirelli to check. They said the original information was incorrect and they now agree Hamilton’s time was done on super-softs so the table above has been updated accordingly.

      1. @keithcollantine Ah okay, thanks…

  11. Not sure where this is from but Sky said that Hamilton’s best time was on super softs.

  12. It’s getting silly now, Hamilton said on sky that he used two sets of supersofts.

    He also said that his first run on them was pretty poor, he did a 1.41 after setting a purple first sector

    He also stated that his second run was terrible but yet it was much quicker than his first run with a 1.33.8.

    This leads me to believe that the first run which he said was pretty poor was actually his fastest time of 1.33.2 and his terrible second run was the 1.41.

    1. If you’re not a Mercedes fan, you better be worried…check this out.. http://www.pirelli.com/corporate/en/press/2014/03/02/review-%E2%80%93-2014-official-formula-one-test-bahrain-27-february-2-march/ Ham knocked those 1m33.278s on used softs… look at the end part of the page. A lil’ tickle to other teams specially Williams from Merc. Yeah?!

  13. It is fantastic to have all the information in that last table all together. I know alot of followers of this website manage to watch several sites at once – Autosport live, AMuS, F1 Net etc., so already had that data but I had not read the tyre compounds each driver was using on their fastest lap. Thanks @keithcollantine.
    Not looking good for Lotus. Red Bull have masses of resources to throw at their problems but it does not seem like Lotus do.

  14. @KnottyBwoy

    Hate to let you down but Pirelli made a mistake, Mercedes have confirmed on Twitter that Hamilton used the Supersofts on his fastest time of the day.

    @MercedesAMGF1: @tgruener @andrewbensonf1 Hi all.. just to confirm, it was the supersoft tyre that Lewis used to set the fastest time yesterday

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