Mercedes paces day one of testing in Bahrain

Date Tuesday 8 April

Track Bahrain International Circuit

Driver Nico Rosberg

No of Laps 121 laps

Best Lap Time 1:35.697

Kilometres Covered 655 km

Track Length 5.412 km

Weather Clear, dry, hot, Max air temp 31°C, Max track temp 49°C

MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS began the first in-season test of 2014 at the Bahrain International Circuit today, with Nico Rosberg taking the wheel of the F1 W05 for the first of two days' running in Sakhir this week. Nico's best time of 1:35.697 from 121 laps put him first on the time sheets. Today's programme ran through a sweep of set-up evaluations Nico emerged for his first run at 09:15 local time, completing 70 laps in the morning A further 51 laps followed in the afternoon, running right up to the chequered flag at 17:30 Mercedes-Benz Power Units today completed a total of 1,732 km between all teams Lewis Hamilton will take the wheel of the F1 W05 for the second and final day of the test tomorrow.

Nico Rosberg Our main aim today was to try different directions with set-up and to get to know the tyres a bit better. You never stop learning how to get the best out of the tyres, so it has been a productive day from that perspective. We also did a bit of work on the brakes as this is an area I'm not one hundred percent happy with at the moment. We've had a good few weeks on track but you are never at the maximum level of performance. There is always more to be found and we are constantly pushing to improve the car and also ourselves as drivers. Having said that, the team are doing a fantastic job with this car from every perspective. Reliability, car performance, Power Unit performance: it's all there and it's a pleasure to be a part of a team with such positive momentum.

Pos. Driver Car Time Laps

1 Nico Rosberg MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS 1:35.697 121

2 Nico Hülkenberg Force India 1:36.064 69

3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:36.626 69

4 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:36.634 102

5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:37.305 28

6 Max Chilton Marussia 1:37.678 60

7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:38.326 91

8 Sergey Sirotkin Sauber 1:39.023 76

9 Robin Frijns Caterham 1:40.027 63

10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:40.183 16

11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:40.452 67

Mercedes F1