Sunday, March 4, 2012

Kimi Ends Pre-Season Testing On Top

Kimi Räikkönen concluded pre-season testing in the exact same manner in which he begun - with a P1

Räikkönen proved to be the one to beat during the morning's session, which is when the majority of the field focused on qualifying style runs.

Opting for either one or two flying laps during short runs ahead of lunch, Raikkonen clocked a 1:22.030 to beat Fernando Alonso by 0.220s.

And as the day progressed it appeared that short-distance runs are not Lotus's only strong point.

Switching to a race distance in the afternoon, Raikkonen put in some impressive times as he covered 65 laps.

The Finn often race in the 1:28 to 1:29s and did not suffer a major drop-off in lap times during his four separate stints.

Bruno Senna finished his day in third place ahead of Nick Hulkenberg, Kamui Kobayashi, who brought out the red flags when he stopped out on track an hour and a half before the close of play, and Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton was another that drew attention with his longer runs with the McLaren driver's pace appearing to be very similar - although slightly better - than Raikkonen's.

Vitaly Petrov concluded the pre-season in style for Caterham with a P7, finishing ahead of Michael Schumcher, Pastor Maldonado, who was in action in the afternoon, and Daniel Ricciardo.

Sebastian Vettel did not have a great final day as the Red Bull racer managed just 23 laps, hampered by a gearbox problem and a broken front wing.

Times
01. Räikkönen Lotus 1m22.030 121 laps
02. Alonso Ferrari 1m22.250 +0.220 115 laps
03. Senna Williams 1m22.296 +0.266 53 laps
04. Hulkenberg Force India 1m22.312 +0.282 101 laps
05. Kobayashi Sauber 1m22.386 +0.356 72 laps
06. Hamilton McLaren 1m22.430 +0.400 115 laps
07. Petrov Caterham 1m22.795 +0.765 101 laps
08. Schumacher Mercedes 1m22.939 +0.909 100 laps
09. Maldonado Williams 1m23.347 +1.317 48 laps
10. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.393 +1.363 100 laps
11. Vettel Red Bull 1m23.608 +1.578 23 laps

Source: Planet-F1

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