Sergio Perez for Force India

Thurs 27th, BIC, Sakhir – Sergio Perez put Force India on the top of the timesheet today as Formula One pre-season testing resumed at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Perez clocked a fastest lap time of one minute 35.290 seconds to make a positive start to the second week of running at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.

Perez improved on his best from the first week’s sessions in Bahrain, when he registered a quickest lap of 1:37.367.

The Mexican’s strong showing today made it the second time for Force India to set the pace in testing in Bahrain. German teammate Nico Hulkenberg was quickest on day one of last week, when he clocked a time of 1:36.880.

Despite this, Perez was still more than two seconds off of last week’s best overall time registered by Nico Rosberg of 1:33.283.

“We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it,” said Perez, who completed a total of 105 laps in his VJM0701 car. We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it’s been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car. Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.”

Perez will be back in action for Force India tomorrow before handing over testing duties to Hulkenberg. This week’s tests are the last of the Formula One pre-season. The 2014 world championship gets underway with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16.

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas ranked second today with a best lap 0.894 seconds off the pace. Bottas was the day’s busiest man, running for 128 laps around BIC’s 5.412-kilometre track.

Fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen followed for Ferrari with the third-fastest lap. He was 1.142s behind while finishing with 54 laps. Last week’s pace-sitter Rosberg was fourth for Mercedes 1.334s back. Adrian Sutil for Sauber followed 2.410s behind the leader.

Kevin Magnussen of McLaren was ranked sixth on the timesheet. He had a 2.535s gap from Perez, ensuring that all four Mercedes-powered teams were amongst the day’s leading runners.

Daniel Ricciardo showed some signs of improvement from World champions Red Bull, but was still only able to run for 39 laps. He was 2.618s off the pace.

Max Chilton gave Marussia some reason to think positive following a drastic four days of limited running last week. Chilton was already able to complete nearly double the number of laps they for the entire first week in Bahrain, going for 44 today. His best time was 3.320s behind first place. Rounding out the order were three teams using Renault engines, which have been sub-par so far compared to their rivals’ power units.

Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso was over three seconds behind, while Pastor Maldonado of Lotus was over five seconds off the pace. Kamui Kobayashi of Caterham completed the rankings more than six seconds behind.

Testing continues tomorrow (Friday, February 28) at BIC. It will be the first of two open days to the general public this week.

Fans will have a chance to meet their favourite Formula One drivers in an autograph session at 4pm tomorrow. Another autograph session will be held on the second open day on Saturday (March 1), at 2pm.

The autograph signing will be held at the entrance of BIC’s paddock, in front of the stairs leading up to Paddock Club. Drivers from all 11 Formula One teams are expected to be taking part in the autograph signing.

DAY ONE TIMES

1 Sergio PEREZ MEX Sahara Force India F1 Team 1:35.290 105 laps

2 Valtteri BOTTAS FIN Williams F1 Team 1:36.184 128 laps

3 Kimi RAIKKONEN FIN Scuderia Ferrari 1:36.432 54 laps

4 Nico ROSBERG DEU Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One 1:36.624 89 laps

5 Adrian SUTIL DEU Sauber F1 Team 1:37.700 89 laps

6 Kevin MAGNUSSEN DEN McLaren Mercedes 1:37.825 109 laps

7 Daniel RICCIARDO AUS Infiniti Red Bull Racing 1:37.908 39 laps

8 Max CHILTON GBR Marussia F1 Team 1:38.610 44 laps

9 Daniil KVYAT RUS Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.242 55 laps

10 Pastor MALDONADO VEN Lotus F1 Team 1:40.599 31 laps

11 Kamui KOBAYASHI JPN Caterham F1 Team 1:42.285 19 laps