Raikkonen tops morning session
Kimi Raikkonen posted the quickest time in the first morning of testing in 2012 as the returning 2007 world champion set the pace in the new Lotus E20.
The Finn responded to the hype surrounding his return with four fast stints, and occupied the top spot on the time sheets from the minute he first left the garage.
His fastest time so far, a 1:19.670s, set on his third run using medium Pirelli tyres, was faster than any testing laps at the Spanish track throughout 2011.
Lotus confirmed that the team's programme was simply to put miles on the new car and to give Raikkonen as much time as was possible to get used to this year's Pirelli compounds. By 13:00 local time, the Finn had completed 50 laps.
Paul di Resta was second fastest in the new Force India, having spent much of the morning doing intensive evaluation of the VJM05 which sported a large pylon mounted on the roll-bar.
Nico Rosberg was third fastest, driving a 2011 Mercedes W02 with some modifications. Having initially worked on calibration and installation, the German quickly upped the ante and by lunchtime had worked down to a 1:20.219s lap on Pirelli's soft rubber.
Daniel Ricciardo was fourth fastest in the Scuderia Toro Rosso having completed a trouble-free 40 laps so far in the STR7, which was revealed to the world at Jerez on Monday evening.
Mark Webber completed just eight laps in the new Red Bull RB8 but finished as fifth quickest.
Kamui Kobayashi was sixth fastest in the Sauber C31. The Japanese driver's only problem was the loss of a small piece of the rear brake duct on his initial run, but the team quickly resolved the issue.
Jenson Button was seventh for McLaren, which took its time working through systems checks and installation runs. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa was eighth quickest for Ferrari. The Brazilian focussed on data gathering in the F2012 - which was also carrying a tall pillar on its roll-hoop.
Heikki Kovalainen completed 18 laps by lunchtime for Caterham - the Finn having achieved a best of 1m23.1748, ahead of Pastor Maldonado in the new Williams-Renault. The FW34 was also revealed to the world in a roll-out just before the start of the test this morning.
Pedro de la Rosa completed the order in last year's HRT.
Morning Times:
1. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) 1:25.898s (50 laps)
2. Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) + 0.102 (52 laps)
3. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) + 0.549 (56 laps)
4. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) + 1.024 (40 laps)
5. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) + 1.962 (8 laps)
6. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) + 2.442 (29 laps)
7. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) + 2.696 (22 laps)
8. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) + 3.145 (51 laps)
9. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham-Renault) + 3.508 (32 laps)
10. Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Renault) + 3.701 (23 laps)
11. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT-Cosworth) + 4.539 (16 laps)
Comment 1 - 19 of 19
The ICEMAN is back, so Schumacher, don't try and cover your sins of the past with sweet words now and for all of those 'very clever' anti-KIMI group, keep your 'intelectual' comments for yourself, we don't need single brain-cell professors on this site.
Kimi, still the man.
Lotus history of 2012 looks just like Brawn's 2009 it seems.
previous year a total flop, next years big winners.
It would be nice.
INSTALLATION, EVALUATION, ETC.....3 seconds down from the leader is A LOT. Seems like Fiat is yet again with the wrong sport shoe, lol.
End 1ste day Session below the lap times:
Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:19.670 75 laps.
Paul Di Resta Force India 1:19.772101.
Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:20.219 56.
Mark Webber Red Bull 1:20.496 54.
Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:20.694 57.
Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:20.794 42.
Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:21.353 106.
Jenson Button McLaren 1:21.530 62.
Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:22.815 69.
Heikki Kovalainen Caterham, 1:23.178 28.
Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:23.371 25.
Pedro De la Rosa HRT 1:23.676 44.
all this is bull! let´s see what the vettel, hamilton and alonso are doing out of it. i say without seing yet that alonso will get the best out of it and that the newey guy isen´t that great..(just a bet) if so, he would have only delivered great cars at hes work place, but he din´t!
the time may mean nothing, but give a bit of credit, he not been in a car for 2 years, not drove as much on the tyres, and kept hiself fit enough to drive in most motor sports,car permitting he is still a 1st rate driver exciting to watch and i really hope he does great, having said that no doubt there will be something else to knock him for, he may not talk too much, but whats the point when you have nothing to say ,and what you do say gets misprinted or taken out of context, best to say nothing, good luck kimi this fans waiting for the win.
I hear most comment's say that it is only a test and that it is early days to form an opinion about Kimi's times he's setting......... Well, that's exactly the same comment's everybody was giving early 2009 when Button and Barichello drove the other team's to dispair in testing with the ex-Honda Brawn car.
By the way, at Honda HQ in Japan they are still wipping the executive that pulled the plug in the winter of 2008-2009. HAHAHA.
The times mean absolutely nothing. Any idiot who thinks so is just that.
Yeah even though its a shakedown, its good see to see F1 back for another year! Roll on March...
could Kimi find motivation in avenging his exit from ferrari? i don't think he was particulary happy about that... either way, good luck to him!
love to hear this news, but let's not get overexcited!
the iceman returneth.....may this be a sign that the competition will heat up both with the drivers and the cars...time will tell but at least his participation will be eventful.
We won't know the true pace of any of these cars until qualifying in Australia. At the very least, it is good to see Kimi having fun again.
Take no notice of testing times whatsoever at this stage.
The time spent on track is serving several purposes but topping time-sheets is not one of them.
Establishing operating parameters for certain components and software, defining engine-modes, and bug-finding and fixing for new software systems are just a few.
The only times I am really interested in are the qualifying times for the first GP of the season!
haha from this i can already tell that ferrari is in trouble...LOL only kidding, its jst testing
Dump Massa. There is no WAY he should be at the bottom with HRT and Caterham!!!
@Semere
I agree with you. While testing doesn't really tell us the real pace of cars, it's encouraging to see Raikkonen relatively fast straight from the beginning. This tells us at least that his fitness is good. I hope also he finds the tires ok and doesn't need time to adjust. But this will be answered after a few races in the calendar. Good to see Kimi back and fit.
never read too much into testing times
This is encouraging but it does not really tell us the real order Raikonnen will fit in. However, these times show us that Raikonnen has lost little pace since leaving F1 two years ago :)
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