Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg enjoyed a successful first day in Bahrain, setting the fastest lap as well as completing a reliable 78 laps of running.
The German driver’s best, a 1:36.880, would have been good enough for the fastest lap of the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix, proving that the pace of the cars might not have dropped as significantly as expected.
Fernando Alonso edged out Lewis Hamilton by just three hundredths to go second quickest – though the Spaniard caused an early red flag when his Ferrari began smoking due to an oil leak as he exited the pits.
McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, who led the morning session, finished fourth fastest with 81 laps completed, just one less than Sauber’s Adrian Sutil in sixth.
Red Bull look as though their struggles will continue after they spent the morning in the garage and only came out for a brief 14 laps stint in the afternoon.
Caterham’s Robin Frijns however was more successful with the Renault engine, completing 68 laps, whilst Romain Grosjean debuted the Lotus but ran just eight laps, three more than Felipe Massa and five more than Marussia’s Jules Bianchi.
Bahrain Testing Time (Wednesday):
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:36.880 | 78 | |
| 02 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:37.879 | +0.999 | 64 |
| 03 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:37.908 | +1.028 | 74 |
| 04 | K. Magnussen | McLaren | 1:38.295 | +1.415 | 81 |
| 05 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:40.224 | +3.344 | 14 |
| 06 | A. Sutil | Sauber | 1:40.443 | +3.563 | 82 |
| 07 | R. Frijns | Caterham | 1:42.534 | +5.654 | 68 |
| 08 | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:44.346 | +7.466 | 5 |
| 09 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:44.832 | +7.952 | 8 |
| 10 | F. Massa | Williams | No Time | 5 | |
| 11 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | No Time | 3 |
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