Bahrain Test 2 – Day 4: Hamilton on Top, Lotus and McLaren Struggling with Mileage

During the final day of winter testing for the 2014 season, red flags multiplied as teams threw their last efforts into the fray during what would be the last real running before Melbourne, so much so that the session was extended by 25 minutes.

The session was dominated by Lewis Hamilton, driving the Mercedes W05, clocking a time of 1:33.258, just twenty-thousandths off the absolute best time set yesterday by Felipe Massa. The Briton’s day started later than the others, as a gearbox issue delayed his start.

Williams is not left behind as Valtteri Bottas has set the second-fastest time of the day — more than seven-tenths behind Mercedes — and continued to lap until a technical issue due to significant running forced the Finn to set foot on the ground. It was the first red flag triggered by the Grove team in these 12 days of testing.

Behind the two men, Fernando Alonso set the overall fastest time for a Ferrari during these tests, with 1:34.280. A small scare for the Scuderia in the middle of the afternoon, causing a red flag, although the F14-T was quickly able to get back on track.

Several teams ended their day early due to technical problems: this was the case for Lotus (engine failure), McLaren (engine failure, end of life), Force India (engine failure), Caterham (clutch). On the Sauber side, Esteban Gutierrez was responsible for the last red flag, due to a fuel test: the Swiss team’s fuel depletion was intentional and concluded a more than productive day, with the C33 completing 177 laps (91 for Sutil and 86 for the Mexican).

Black day for McLaren, which covered only 21 laps before having to withdraw for the rest of the day due to an engine problem. On the other hand, Lotus can truly curse the thirty-lap mark: after stopping at 31 laps on Thursday and Friday, and 33 laps on Saturday, it was after completing 32 laps today that the E22 stopped its run. Romain Grosjean confirmed he was a victim of an engine problem, as hinted by the flames coming from his car.