Jerez Testing – Day 1: Räikkönen Ahead, Hamilton in the Wall
The first day of winter testing for the 2014 season was marked by numerous mechanical problems, starting with the incident that sent Lewis Hamilton into the wall. Kimi Räikkönen fared well, setting the fastest time and completing the most laps.
The return of the little world of F1 was anticipated and it certainly did not go as planned! The first day of winter testing in Jerez was marked by the limited running done by competitors between the start of the session at 9:00 AM and the end of the day at 5:00 PM. This was often due to technical problems occurring before even completing a single lap, as was the case for Red Bull, Caterham, or even McLaren.
Few laps but many red flags: four in total. Three of them were caused by stops on the track. The first occurred around 9:47 AM when Kimi Räikkönen came to a halt on the track after just a few meters. Then, around 11:00 AM, it was Sergio Pérez who stopped his Force India at the edge of the Jerez circuit. Finally, at 3:30 PM, it was Jean-Eric Vergne’s turn to stop his Toro Rosso on the asphalt.
The major event of the day was the accident of Lewis Hamilton, shortly before 1 PM, caused by a front wing issue. Sent straight into the wall, the Mercedes W05 was badly damaged, and the German team decided to end its day, despite having held the best time and the highest number of laps completed up to that point.
During the afternoon, Kimi Räikkönen took advantage of the absence of competitors to complete multiple laps (31 laps covered) and set the fastest time of the day at 1:27.104. The afternoon also saw the debut of the Caterham CT05 driven by Marcus Ericsson on track, as well as Valtteri Bottas’ Williams FW36, which recorded the third best time in a not particularly representative ranking in the final moments.
Red Bull, despite an issue with a poorly assembled suspension, was still able to complete a few laps in the last quarter-hour of the session. The German driver even managed to spin just minutes before the end of the session, while McLaren wasn’t as fortunate: the Woking team, plagued by multiple electrical and hydraulic issues, couldn’t run its MP4-29.
Standings of the first day of testing in Jerez /f1/news/16890-jerez-testing-red-bull-and-caterham-delayed-marussia-approaching.html:
| No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:27.104 | 31 | |
2 | Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1:27.820 | +0.716 | 18 |
3 | Bottas | Williams F1 Team | 1:30.082 | +2.978 | 7 |
4 | Perez | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:33.161 | +6.057 | 11 |
5 | Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:36.530 | +9.426 | 15 |
6 | Gutierrez | Sauber F1 Team | 1:42.257 | +15.153 | 7 |
7 | Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | no time | 3 | |
8 | Ericsson | Caterham | no time | 1 | |
NC | Button | McLaren Mercedes | no time | 0 |
