Perez stays top for Force India as Red Bull struggles continue as day one in Bahrain comes to an end

(Sahara Force India F1 Team)

 

Force India's Sergio Perez topped the timesheets on the first day of the final round of winter testing at the Bahrain International Circuit. The Mexican, who was fastest this morning set the fastest of the day a 1m 35.290s finishing the day just 0.894s ahead of the Williams of Valtteri Bottas making it a Mercedes powered 1-2.

 

Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest for Ferrari despite bringing out the red flags just before the end of the days running. Despite the stoppage the Finn was able to complete 54 laps.

 

Nico Rosberg was fourth fastest for Mercedes and was slightly disappointed by how the car performed today. The German managed to complete 89 laps in the W05 as did Adrian Sutil who was fifth for the Sauber F1 Team driving the C33.

 

McLaren's Kevin Magnussen continued the team's strong performance in testing as the Danish driver completed 109 laps in the MP4-29 and was 6th fastest. Daniel Ricciardo was 7th fastest for Red Bull Racing, however the Australia could only manage to complete 39 laps in the RB10 before he was forced to stop due to an overheating problem. It is unclear as to whether or this was a Red Bull or Renault problem.

 

Max Chilton was 8th for Marussia and managed to complete 44 laps. Daniil Kvyat was 9th for Toro Rosso as their driver's have said that the team should not panic as they continue to struggle with the new Renault engine.

 

Pastor Maldonado was 10th for the Lotus F1 Team, however the Venezuelan suffered an exhaust failure as the team experimented with a new spec exhaust so for tomorrow they will revert back to the old specification exhaust system.

 

Kamui Kobayashi was 11th for the Caterham F1 Team and completed 19 laps. There are just three days remaining for teams like Red Bull to get to the bottom of the issues that they have been experiencing.

 

Tomorrow will see a number of teams alternate their line-ups with Fernando Alonso taking over from

Kimi Raikkonen who will be back in action in the F14T on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton will also be driving tomorrow as he takes over from Nico Rosberg at the wheel of the W05.