These are the times form halfway through today in Bahrain. Does a 3 second gap sound a little too large for comfort at this stage in F1 pre-season testing? Mercedes have clearly moved onto defining their setup and extracting pace. What's happened to the rest?
Name Team Laps Time Gap
Hamilton Mercedes 25 1:34.263 128.434 mph
Gutierrez Sauber 45 1:37.180 2.917
Button McLaren 28 1:37.258 2.995
Maldonado Lotus 19 1:39.642 5.379
Perez Force India 17 1:40.339 6.076
Ricciardo Red Bull 23 1:40.781 6.518
Kvyat Toro Rosso 27 1:40.801 6.538
Raikkonen Ferrari 12 1:41.336 7.073
Ericsson Caterham 33 1:43.602 9.339
Chilton Marussia 4 1:46.672 12.409
Bottas Williams 55 No Time -
Lap record, 1:30.252 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)
A 1:32 would be up to speed, so they're all a bit slow.
Final times.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m34.263s 67
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m34.976s +0.713s 103
3. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m37.066s +2.803s 60
4. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m37.180s +2.917s 96
5. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m37.367s +3.104s 57
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m37.476s +3.213s 44
7. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m38.974s +4.711s 57
8. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m39.642s +5.379s 26
9. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m40.781s +6.518s 28
10. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m42.130s +7.867s 98
11. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m46.672s +12.409s 4
12. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes no time 55