The desert is not usually regarded as an ideal venue for staging a dress rehearsal, but that is more or less that the current six day testing session at the Bahrain International circuit of Sakhir is representing this week,  as  it  is  the  last  chance  to  get everything sorted out prior to the season opener in Melbourne. To continue the theatrical theme, the teams now have a two day ‘intermission’ (ice cream is being served in the foyer) before the final three days get underway on Tuesday.

For Red Bull Racing this week, work continued on development of their RB3: set-up, assessing engine and ancillary cooling in the hotter conditions afforded in this part of the world, testing brakes on one of the toughest tracks in terms of brake use, looking at systems reliability, software and evaluating the two types of tyre that Bridgestone will supply for the race here in mid-April.

"On the first day, both cars lost some track time with a technical problem, but generally over the three days, we made good progress, culminating in both David and Mark completing the equivalent of a race distance each today," said Head of Race and Test Engineering, Paul Monaghan. "David also posted some competitive times, while Mark was working on different aspects of the car's performance. As far as cooling and brakes are concerned, we look in good shape and, although we still have some reliability concerns, I think we can sort these out before tackling the next three days of testing here."