Massa flies on penultimate day at Bahrain

F1 Test, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit

The penultimate day of testing in Bahrain got underway with Jules Bianchi and Daniil Kvyat the first to take to the track. Felipe Massa however soon settled atop the timesheet.

The first hours of the day were marked by more problems for Red Bull Racing, with Vettel completing only half a lap before stopping on track around 12:45. Sauber's Adrian Sutil suffered a similar fate as his Sauber caught fire during the installation lap. The German managed to get the car back to the pitlane, but the fire is likely to delay the team's programme.

Mercedes AMG were also not seen out on track in the first 3 hours as the team were busy changing the engine on the F1 W05.

The most active teams, but also the slowest are Marussia and Caterham, both having completed 40 laps.

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In the afternoon, Felipe Massa set off for some qualifying runs and ended on top of the timesheet withan impressive 1:33.258, the fastest time recorded so far during the Bahrain winter tests this year. Nico Rosberg also complete a flyer and stranded 2 tenths behind the Williams driver.

Behind them, nobody really focused on single lap performance during the day with Raikkonen completing his first race simulation with the Ferrari F14 T following Alonso' effort on Friday. Kevin Magnussen in the McLaren was fourth fastest with 88 laps, a satisfying effort after the gearbox problems that halted McLaren's progress theday before.

Kvyat for Toro Rosso completed a satisfying 81 laps, followed by Hulkenberg and Bianchi. Marcus Ericsson in the Caterham proved the most active driver today with 117 laps, a boost for Renault as both Lotus and Red Bull hardly got any running done.