Five things we learned at pre-season testing in Bahrain: Red Bull have more than 'little problems'

Red Bull have more than “little problems”

It was not all doom and gloom for Red Bull this week, as they seemed pretty chipper after Daniel Ricciardo’s stint at the end of day two. But day three put an end to their optimistic mood.

Four corners and to the end of the pit-lane is a pretty abysmal showing for a day of testing, particularly when this was on the penultimate day. Team boss Christian Horner had said a few weeks ago they were battling “little problems”, but he admitted this week the team were about “10 days behind” with 10 days of testing completed.

Worryingly for Red Bull, while Renault seem to have big issues, not all the Renault cars have been stuck in the garage. Whether they are on the pace or off the pace, Caterham managed a race simulation on day three and again on day four; a sign that Renault are not totally to blame.

Furthermore, after 44 laps in the morning on the final day, Sebastian Vettel suffered a “front mechanical problem” in teamspeak, causing a pretty spectacular 180 degree spin. That doesn’t sound like a Renault issue to me.

Qualifying may be another thing (from the look of Ricciardo’s stint on day two, the car looks reasonably competitive), but it’s difficult to see them finishing the race in Australia at this stage. If anyone can prove us all wrong though, it’s Red Bull.

Williams & Force India are the real deal

Williams have seemingly made the decision of the century in picking their timing to switch from Renault to Mercedes engines. Let’s not forget: Williams have lots of history and heritage, (and other nice warm, fuzzy words) with Renault, winning buckets of races and championships with the manufacturer in the 1990s.

But now, with a Mercedes power unit in the car, they seem to have taken a monumental step forward from 2013, which was the worst season in their history. The car has looked bulletproof. It did not cause a red flag in 12 days of testing until the final half an hour, and by the final two days it was even more impressive than Mercedes in reliability and right up there in terms of pace.

The early switch to developing their 2014 car also seems to have helped Force India. With Nico Hulkenberg (sorry, the Hulk) and Sergio Perez at the wheel, they racked up the miles and were constantly near the front of the timesheets. Now obviously, it’s hard to predict based on testing times, but they look strong. Their front nose is still ridiculous, though.

Mercedes are not totally impenetrable

Mercedes ended the first Bahrain test as absolutely firm favourites for the first race, and the title. After the second Bahrain test, you would have to say they are still favourites, but ever so slightly wobblier ones.

Reliability was a bit of an issue for them this week, with gearbox troubles as well as a “precautionary” engine change.

Nico Rosberg, who has seemed the jolliest person in the paddock in pre-season, and why not, admitted he still has worries about reliability.

"We might be in a better position than some other teams but we need to get to the end of the race so that's a big challenge”, he said.

That said, the team are quite happy to have discovered these problems now, and a tiny bit less hype, for them, is probably welcome.

F1 could be closer than you think

As Jenson Button has put it, F1 left the first test in Jerez in a bit of a “mess”. There was around eight seconds between the cars, and all the signs were that the grid was going to be massively stretched out and we would see people competing in essentially totally different races.

Now, with Renault’s troubles, it could still be the case that there’s essentially a race between the Mercedes teams, the Ferrari teams, and the Renault teams, but Bahrain has proved that they are much more likely to be relatively close together.

“What I think is that a lot of cars will be competitive and it will not be that one-and-a-half second difference that we thought would be the case last week”, Button said.

“The grid will be much tighter in Melbourne than expected - which is a good thing after the mess of the first test with eight seconds between the cars.”

He even praised the improvements Marussia have made, particularly in high speed corners, according to the 2009 champion.

Formula One needs a close season after the dominance of Red Bull in 2013, so let’s hope Button is right.

There are some smiling faces amidst the gloom

It can’t be great to turn up at the final pre-season test as the four-time reigning world champion to discover your car can’t many one lap in an entire day.

But despite reports he threw some kind of “hissy fit” in Jerez (which Red Bull officially rubbished, and then mocked in a blog on their website), Vettel has been his usually smiling self in Bahrain. I’m sure he’s not exactly happy about the situation, and doing all he can to sort out it behind the scenes, but he has been calm and in decent(ish) spirits considering the situation this week.

After day three, the worst of testing so far, he said all the right things.

“It’s not an easy situation… all is not lost… we will work together as a team…. we win and we lose together”, is roughly how his evening press conference went.

In full sentences, he said: “I am not one to switch horses at the slightest indication of troubles. We’ve had fantastic years with Renault and I always said to myself: keep your feet on the ground and enjoy the moment as nothing is for granted. Right now, nothing is lost - no race has been run, no point has been allocated - but when I listen to some media we are right in the middle of a huge disaster.”

Another driver who is maintaining a good demeanour is Lotus’s Romain Grosjean. The Enstone-based team have also had a torrid week. Engine blowouts, exhaust failures, and so on, have stopped either driver doing a race simulation.

While smiling, Romain was philosophically honest about the situation.

Asked if anything this week had shown he could finish in Bahrain, his reply was: “Optimism…?” Optimism alone isn’t going to take him and Lotus to the finish in Melbourne, unfortunately.