NICO Rosberg registered the fastest lap yesterday as Mercedes continued to up the pace in Formula One pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Rosberg set the best time of the entire week at one minute 33.283 seconds as the teams wrapped things up after the first four days of running.

He was nearly a full second quicker than the previous top lap set by teammate Lewis Hamilton on day three.

Rosberg also came close to matching his pole-winning time from last year’s Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, which was 1:32.330.

“We can be very pleased with the first test in Bahrain this week,” Rosberg said following today’s sessions.

“We completed a lot of mileage and learnt more about the car with every lap we achieved.”

Rosberg completed 89 laps out on BIC’s 5.412-kilometre track, working on short runs and then a race simulation before his day was cut short after stopping out on the track late in the afternoon.

“This morning we were able to try some qualifying practice runs which felt good, meaning I could attack the lap a bit as I found a good balance,” the German explained.

“Later in the day we did a race simulation, which was crucial to learn all the new things in the car.

“There was a lot of feedback from the engineers, so my head was full of information!

“There is still some way to go for us to manage the reliability before Melbourne as this will play a huge factor in the early races, but we’re hopeful that we can take another step towards achieving this next week.”

McLaren continued to show promise with the second-best time of the day. Jenson Button was just 1.674s off the pace as he completed 66 laps of work.

Kimi Raikkonen had a better second day in the car for Ferrari, although it ended with a crash that ripped off his front wing. He finished with the third-best mark, 3.435s behind the leader, while finishing with 82 laps.

Newly appointed Williams test and reserve driver Felipe Nasr ranked fourth today. He had a 4.286s gap from first and completed a total of 87 laps.

Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus E22 was fifth 5.424s off the best time and had a solid 59 laps.

Sergio Perez faced some trouble in his Force India car as he had a +5.975s gap from the top while running for just 19 laps on the day.

Forgettable

World champions Red Bull had another forgettable outing as Daniel Ricciardo finished with just 15 laps to his name. Ricciardo 6.554s off the pace, but Red Bull hope to turn things around at the final tests of the pre-season later this week back at BIC.

Sister squad Toro Rosso followed in eighth with Jean-Eric Vergne’s best lap 7.189s slower than the benchmark.

Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson shared the duties in their Caterham car, but neither could make an impact as both drivers finished around 10 seconds off the pace and running for just a combined 21 laps.

Kobayashi was 9.744s behind in ninth on the timesheet, while Ericsson clocked a lap 11.811s back.

Sauber’s Adrian Sutil and Marussia’s Jules Bianhci rounded out the order, both with frustrating days.

Sutil had a car problem that needed all morning to fix but then could only manage seven laps without registering a time.

Bianchi also spent virtually the whole day out of the car and had just five laps on the track, and also had no time.

Testing at BIC continues on Thursday and will be held until Sunday.

Scores of fans attended today’s sessions. Another two open days to the public will be held next weekend on Friday and Saturday.

Tickets cost BD5 per person. They can be purchased at the gate or at the BIC stands in Bahrain City Centre or Seef Mall, online at www.bahraingp.com or by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000.
Fans will be able to watch the testing from BIC’s Main Grandstand, which overlooks the Formula One pit lane, team garages and the circuit’s main straight.
The new Formula One season is set to kick off in Australia just two weeks after the second session of testing at BIC.
The Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix is the third of 19 races this season, taking place April 4 to 6 in Sakhir.
Tickets for the Grand Prix are also now on sale.