'No King Kimi at Lotus'

Eric Boullier insists Lotus is not Kimi Raikkonen's team despite conceding there are times they have to adjust to the Finn

Last season, Raikkonen emerged as Lotus' leading driver as the Finn bagged the victory in the Abu Dhabi GP as well as third place in the Drivers' Championship.

But despite predictions that the 33-year-old will play a pivotal role in this year's Championship, Boullier insists Lotus is not a one-man team.

"No, because I don't want to have a spoiled character who is probably leading the team in the wrong direction," was his response when asked by the official F1 website whether it was a case of 'King Kimi' at Lotus.

"We are not servicing his moods. We are just making sure that he can be himself. This is a big difference."

The team boss, though, admits there have been times it has been better for the Lotus outfit to adjust to the Finn rather than the other way around.

"On top of being Kimi - the character that we know - he did cleverly build his system. It takes some time until he gets up to speed, but he is delivering because he knows that probably his strongest asset is race craft.

"And little by little over the course of the year he adjusted all the parameters to make himself fast, strong and in a position to deliver - the Kimi we like!

"He might have his moments sometimes, but it is up to us to adjust what we want to achieve to his style rather than the reverse. I probably prefer to switch the team to the style of Kimi."

As for Raikkonen's team-mate, Romain Grosjean, Boullier says one of the goals this season is to "transform Romain's enthusiasm into results. If we succeed that would mean a lot of points at the end of the year.

"You do everything you can. From building his environment, protecting him, supporting him - doing everything we can to make him feel good.

"But in the end it is up to him - only him - to build up and grow.

"We have to be patient, but not for three years, not for ten years - it has to be now. I think he has some of the best speed over one lap, now he has to learn to do the rest. Then I predict that he will be one of the best drivers."

Source: Planet-F1

Räikkönen leaves Jerez on top

Kimi Raikkonen set the pace on the final day at Jerez during which a disintegrating kerb caused a midday stoppage

Friday's running began in a fiery fashion as, after just two laps in the new Ferrari F138, Pedro de la Rosa had to leap from the car after it caught fire.

The marshals were quickly on the scene and put out the flames which were reportedly caused by a gearbox malfunction.

With the track again green, Sebastian Vettel was the first to slide under the 1:19 barrier before Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez topped his time.

Vettel, though, returned to the front shortly after on a soft tyre run and was leading the way with a 1:18.565 when a hole in a kerb brought proceedings to a halt.

The red flags were out for almost a full hour as track worked sought different way to repair the damage to the kerb at Turn 9 before finally bringing out the cement.

With the action back underway the drivers ventured and were soon joined by de la Rosa in his repaired Ferrari.

Force India hopeful Jules Bianchi, who has yet to learn whether or not he'll race for the team this season, was the first to lower the benchmark time as he posted a 1:18.175.

Bianchi's time, though, was edged by Kimi Raikkonen when - with an hour to go - the Lotus driver went 0.027s quicker.

Although not quicker than the week's best of 1:17.879, which was set by Felipe Massa on Thursday, Raikkonen's time proved to the second quickest of the four-day test.

Vettel finished in third place, 0.417s down, while Sauber rookie Gutierrez was fourth ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne who put in a very late charge to move up the order.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had a much better day in the W04 as he amassed 145 laps with a best time of 1:18.905.

His McLaren replacement Sergio Perez was seventh quickest, finishing ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who was the only driver in an old 2012 car.

Times
01. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m18.148 82 laps
02. Jules Bianchi Force India 1m18.175 + 0.027 56 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m18.565 + 0.417 96 laps
04. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m18.669 + 0.521 142 laps
05. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m18.760 + 0.612 92 laps
06. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m18.905 + 0.757 145 laps
07. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m18.944 + 0.796 97 laps
08. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m19.851 + 1.703 91 laps
09. Pedro de la Rosa Ferrari 1m20.316 + 2.168 50 laps
10. Charles Pic Caterham 1m21.105 + 2.957 109 laps
11. Luiz Razia Marussia 1m21.226 + 3.078 81 laps
12. Paul di Resta Force India 1m23.435 + 5.287 49 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Massa tops the charts on Day Three

Felipe Massa posted the fastest time of the week at Jerez on Thursday, half a second up on the previous best

As the sun once again shone down on the Spanish circuit on Thursday morning, the third day of the pre-season action got underway.

Massa moved to the top of the timesheets during the morning's session when the Ferrari driver posted a 1:17.879 during a short run on the soft tyres.

The Brazilian, who is hoping to launch a title bid of his own this season, followed that up a little while later with another lap that was only marginally slower on a similar short run.

Nico Rosberg finished second quickest on the day, 0.887s adrift of Massa, demonstrating for the first time what the Mercedes W04 is capable of if the car runs smoothly. Rosberg amassed a very busy 148 laps.

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel also hit the 100-lap mark as the Red Bull racer, driving the RB9 for the first time, was third quickest, a further 0.3s down.

Kimi Raikkonen, another driver making his pre-season debut, was fourth quickest in his Lotus E21. However, the Finn covered just 40 laps as a large part of the morning was spent ensuring he is comfortable in his new car.

Jean-Eric Vergne was fifth for Toro Rosso, finishing ahead of Force India's James Rossiter. The Brit test driver had a few issues during his morning stint when he hit one his mechanics as he missed his braking point into the pits.

"I hold my hands up, that was totally my fault," he said. "We were doing some aero runs and everything was cold, the brakes were too cold, the tyres were too cold.

"Thank God Marcus is okay and he's only got a few bruises. I'm sure I'll be buying him many beers and he won't be forgetting it soon!"

Another driver to run into problems was Jenson Button who brought testing to its conclusion five minutes early on Thursday when he broke down out on track.

Esteban Gutierrez made his Sauber debut with the Mexican racer setting the eighth fastest time as he completed 110 laps.

Times
01. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m17.879s 85 laps
02. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m18.766s +0.887 148 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m19.052s +1.173 102 laps
04. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m19.200s +1.321 40 laps
05. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m19.247s +1.368 85 laps
06. James Rossiter Force India 1m19.303s +1.424 42 laps
07. Jenson Button McLaren 1m19.603s +1.724 83 laps
08. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m19.934s +2.055 110 laps
09. Max Chilton Marussia 1m21.269s +3.390 78 laps
10. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m21.575s +3.696 86 laps
11. Charles Pic Caterham 1m22.352s +4.473 57 laps
12. Paul di Resta Force India 1m23.729s +5.850 7 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Vettel's new trainer also made an impression in Turku

Sebastian Vettel's new trainer Heikki Huovinen started working with the German star by getting thoroughly familiar with his clothing- and equipment-cabin on Jerez track.

It took over three hours from Huovinen since he was shown from hand to hand all fire-proof underwear, racing outfits, gloves, shoes, helmets, visors etc.

Vettel himself made the ground rules clear when reporters wanted to hear comments from the trainer.

– Heikki is here to train me, not to give interviews, Vettel stated and hence got his new Finnish trainer the working peace he needed.

Huovinen is in a completely new world beside the F1-champion. Just like his predecessor Tommi Pärmäkoski he also comes from ice hockey. Huovinen has been well trained for his job in Jyväskylä University.

Huovinen, 28, still played ice hockey in the autumn.

Vettel always puts his own goals higher and higher. At 24-years old he thinks that he can develop and build his physical condition even tougher year by year.

– When looking from outside my last season might have looked almost perfect. But we still had a list over things we can improve in. The idea is that after the season we take distance and then come back better prepared and organized to the track.

How big is the change from trainer Pärmäkoski to trainer Huovinen?

– A Finn is a Finn. That says everything, Vettel said.

Turun Sanomat

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Video: Fernando Alonso Interview at Jerez Sky Sports

Ferrari and Fernando Alonso were fastest on the final day of the first pre-season testing week in Jerez ahead of the new Formula One season



Source: GrandPrixGirls

Alonso Ends First Test On A High Note

Fernando Alonso silenced growing concerns about Ferrari's F2012 by finishing the four-day Jerez with the fastest time on the final day

Following the conclusion of Thursday's play at the Spanish circuit, Ferrari's technical director Pat Fry admitted to the world that he was "not happy" with how Ferrari's pre-season was progressing.

According to Fry, while the reliability of the new car is "good" the pace is only "okay" leaving Ferrari with a lot of work to do before the season gets underway in Australia next month.

However, Fry's concerns - at least on the surface - came to naught when Alonso broke the 1:20.000 barrier in the first hour of Friday's running.

The Spaniard went even faster, posting a 1:18.877 during the morning session before heading into the pits prior to lunch with 24 laps under his belt.

For an as yet undisclosed reason, Alonso did just 15 laps in the afternoon - several of which were for practice starts - while his rivals put in the miles. None, though, were able to get close to his P1 time.

Toro Rosso rookie Jean-Eric Vergne came the closest, finishing 0.702s off the pace. However, his time was also set during the morning session.

The fastest man in the afternoon proved to be reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

The German completed just two laps in the morning as "an electrical issue" with his RB8 took several hours to resolve.

As such, he only ventured out mid-way through the afternoon but that did not stop the Red Bull racer from quickly working his way up the timesheets.

Vettel steadily improved from ninth to eighth to fifth and then third, finishing Friday's running with a 1:19.606, which was 0.729s off the pace.

Lewis Hamilton, who had a trouble-free day with almost 90 laps to his name, was fourth quickest, a further 0.034s slower than Vettel while Romain Grosjean was fifth in his Lotus E20.

Kamui Kobayashi brought his car home in sixth place, just under a second behind Alonso's P1 time. However, his day was not without problems as the Sauber driver was responsible for one of four red flags when his C31 came to a halt due to a hydraulic problem.

A solid day for Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, who lost valuable track-time on Thursday after Jules Bianchi crashed his car, finished with the German eighth quickest with 90 laps.

Meanwhile, Bruno Senna, who was the busiest driver on the final day, put in some consistent runs as he covered a marathon 125 laps. The Williams's racer, though, brought out the red flags on two occasions.

The first was in the morning when, after 97 laps, he stopped out on track while the second, late in the afternoon, came at Turn Two. The day's first red flag stoppage was in order to allow a marshal to clear a piece of debris off the track.

Jarno Trulli completed the timesheets for Caterham with 117 laps and 3.321s off the pace.

Unofficial Times
01 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:18.877 39 laps
02 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:19.597 0.720 80 laps
03 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:19.606 0.729 50 laps
04 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:19.640 0.763 86 laps
05 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:19.729 0.852 95 laps
06 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:19.834 0.957 76 laps
07 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:19.977 1.100 90 laps
08 Bruno Senna Williams 1:20.132 1.255 125 laps
09 Jarno Trulli Caterham 1:22.198 3.321 117 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Video: BBC - Hamilton and Vettel discuss contrasting fortunes following first test

Hamilton says he is "in a good place" ahead of the new season whilst Sebastian Vettel complains of a "loss of grip" following their first experiences driving their 2012-spec cars on the third day of pre-season testing in Jerez .

Hamilton states "things went pretty smoothly" and had "no nasty surprises" after driving his new McLaren MP4-27 for the first time.

By contrast, Vettel reveals he struggles with his new Red Bull RB8, complaining of "quite a big loss of grip" compared to last year's car which was built around the now-illegal 'blown diffuser' exhaust system, and having to adapt his driving style to cope with the changes.



Source: SeventyBuckss

Lewis: McLaren have 'a good platform'

Lewis Hamilton said that McLaren have a "good platform" from which to build after sampling the new MP4-27 for the first time on Thursday

Taking over after team-mate Jenson Button had spent the first two days of Formula 1's opening pre-season test putting the new McLaren chassis through its paces, the 2008 World Champion gave a positive initial assessment after completing a total of 80 laps and setting the day's fourth fastest time.

"It felt pretty good to be out there first time, to get back out on track after such a long winter. My initial thoughts were pretty good," he told Sky Sports.

"Every year you arrive and you never know what to expect, but you always hope for a good platform to start from and something that the team can build from.

"I think that after today I feel quite positive about where the car is at the moment and I'm confident that the guys can push it forward."

Nice surprise
Hamilton said he received no "nasty surprises" adding that "the nice surprise was that it felt reasonably quick".

However, he did say that the car did feel different at the rear end without the extra downforce provided by the now-outlawed blown diffuser.

"The car is different. Last year we had so much support and stability, particularly in the high-speed corners, but now we're having to find that grip," he said.

"We'll take grip off the front and try to offload it to the rear somehow. But I think the baseline that we have is something we can really work with."

Hamilton also added that Pirelli's new tyres offered "more life" than their predecessors and suggested that McLaren's only issue to date is that their simulator had not been set up accordingly.

"There's a couple of small things in the car that we have. There are no real problems, it's just different in driving with the tyres and everything," he said.

"I tested in the simulator and it's a little bit different to what it is in the simulator. We'll go back and adjust the simulator to what it's like in real life."

Not a contest
Even so, Hamilton said he saw no reason thus far not to think that McLaren will challenge this year.

"Today you've got to remember that everyone is just focusing on their own programmes. It's not a contest for who's the fastest at the moment," he continued.

"We're just trying to get lots of running, testing the items. The Ferrari's not really showing anything just yet; of course, the Red Bull looks fast - as it usually does - and we're there I think.

"But over the coming weeks we'll get a better indication of where everyone is."

Source: SkySports

Big guns back, but Rosberg takes P1

Mercedes GP's 2011 challenger once again upstaged the new cars on day three of the pre-season test in Jerez with Nico Rosberg topping the timesheets

World Champion Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton were all in action for the first time on Thursday, but it was Rosberg who took the P1 honours with a blistering time of 1:17.613.

It was the second consecutive day that Merc set the pace after Michael Schumacher posted a 1:18.561 on Wednesday. With the team opting to skip the fourth and final day of testing on Friday, it was also the perfect send-off for the W02 as Merc will introduce their 2012 challenger ahead of the next test in Barcelona.

Lotus also continued their keep up with the pace at the front as Romain Grosjean led the way in the 2012-spec cars. The Frenchman was the early pacesetter before Rosberg blew everyone away with his 1:17 mark. Grosjean's best effort in his E20 was 0.806 slower than that of the German..

After watching from the sidelines on the first two days, Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton finally got a taste of the action. Vettel put his RB8 in third place with a 1:19.297, but Hamilton was just under two tenths off his time.

Alonso and Ferrari didn't have the smoothest of days as the Spaniard spent nearly two hours of the morning session in the garage with a hydraulic problem.

Things went a little better in the afternoon and, with Ferrari focusing on data collection and not times, he finished seventh but put in some consistent times on the medium Pirelli tyres.

Thursday proved to be a fruitless day for Force India after reserve and test driver Jules Bianchi had a shunt early on. Although damage to the VJM05 was not severe, the team were forced to skip the rest of the day due to a lack of spare parts.

"It was just a small mistake from my side," Bianchi told ESPNF1.

"Some wheelspin with cold tyres and I went into the gravel and touched a little bit the rear wheel and damaged the car a bit. I'm very sorry for the team because it's had to do a lot of work for a small mistake. I'm really sorry about that."

Caterham reserve Giedo van der Garde also had an excursion off the track, but his CT01 wasn't damaged.

Meanwhile, Jean-Eric Vergne and Bruno Ssenna made their official debuts as they drove for Toro Rosso and Williams respectively.

Vergne's team-mate Daniel Ricciardo impressed on the first two days and the Frenchman proved that there is plenty of pace in the STR7 as he finished fifth while Senna was the busiest driver on the track, having completed 125 laps.

Only 10 teams are in action after HRT decided to back up and head home after Wednesday. Marrusia, meanwhile, skipped the session altogether.

Times
1.N Rosberg Mercedes GP W02 1:17.613 118 laps
2. R Grosjean Lotus E20 1:18.419 +0.806 117
3. S Vettel Red Bull RB8 1:19.297 +1.684 96
4. L Hamilton McLaren MP4-27 1:19.464 +1.851 80
5. J Vergne Toro Rosso STR7 1:19.734 +2.121 78
6. S Perez Sauber C31 1:19.770 +2.157 48
7. F Alonso Ferrari F2012 1:20.412 +2.799 67
8. B Senna Williams FW34 1:21.293 +3.680 125
9. G van der Garde Caterham CT01 1:23.324 +5.711 74
10. J Bianchi Force India VJM-05 0:00.000 2

Source: Planet-F1

Rosberg Keeps Merc GP On Top In Jerez

The "big three" got their first taste of winter testing at Jerez on day three, but Nico Rosberg stole their early morning thunder to set the pace

After sitting out the first two days, World Champion Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren were all taking part in pre-season testing for the first time on Thursday.

However, for the second day in a row it was the 2011-spec Mercedes GP that topped the timesheets.

Seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher posted a 1:18.561 on Wednesday and Rosberg went even better in the morning session on day three with a 1:17.613.

Lotus also continued their good pace in the south of Spain with Romain Grosjean, who set the pace early on, finding himself just +0.806 off Rosberg's best effort.

After Jenson Button found himself in the bottom half on the opening two days, team-mate Lewis Hamilton pushed the MP4-27 into third place with a 1:19.464. The Woking-squad, though, have always maintained that they are using most of the days in Jerez to do some "exploratory" work.

Toro Rosso, meanwhile, continued to keep pace with the big boys with rookie Jean-Eric Vergne putting his STR in seventh place.

Red Bull's Vettel was only sixth fastest with a 1:20.154 while Alonso was a further 0.258 behind him in seventh.

"The programme will be very similar to what has been done in the previous days by Felipe (Massa). The main target is data acquisition about the car," Ferrari said via their Twitter feed before the start.

However, things didn't go according to plan in the first hour as Alonso was forced to take a long break following an hydraulic problem.

Force India reserve driver Jules Bianchi also had to sit out the majority of the morning session after he crashed his VJM-05 into the tyre wall.

"The guys are busy in the garage repairing the VJM05. We will hopefully be back out in the afternoon so that Nico (Hulkenberg) can get his first run," Force India said via Twitter.

Only 10 teams are in action in Jerez on the final two days after HRT decided to back up and head home after Wednesday. Marrusia, meanwhile, skipped the session altogether.

Unofficial times
1.N Rosberg Mercedes GP W02 1:17.613 77 laps
2. R Grosjean Lotus E20 1:18.419 +0.806 53
3. L Hamilton McLaren MP4-27 1:19.464 +1.851 38
4. J Vergne Toro Rosso STR7 1:19.734 +2.121 41
5. S Perez Sauber C31 1:19.770 +2.157 31
6. S Vettel Red Bull RB8 1:20.154 +2.541 34
7. F Alonso Ferrari F2012 1:20.412 +2.799 34
8. B Senna Williams FW34 1:21.293 +3.680 73
9. G van der Garde Caterham CT01 1:23.505 +5.892 44
10. J Bianchi Force India VJM-05 0:00.000 2

Source: Planet-F1

Räikkönen was wondering: Car broke down on walking pace

Kimi Räikkönen's car suffered a rare damage in Jerez on Wednesday at the beginning of the test.

- The floor of the car broke down in the morning. I went to the sand and drove back to the track at walking pace. The edge of the track was so high that the floor hit it. It took a little time to repair, Raikkonen told MTV3.

Regarless of the floor damage Raikkonen was drive staggering 117 rounds on Wednesday. He was fifth fastest in the day's results.

- The car does not have any special problems, of course there are some small jobs, but they more or less standard things, which may occur anytime. Even the floor problem was not a tecnical defect but my own fault. In first tests the most important thing is to get a lots of laps, Raikkonen said.

Räikkönen has one improvement in mind for the E20 car.

- Steering needs to be improved. I think we get it fixed before the season starts.

Getting used to Pirelli tyres has gone well to Finnish driver.

- I do not think the tyres will cause any problems. Today some of the compounds were better than others. It certainly depends on weather. Soft tyres did not work on so cold. Even Pirelli said that the hard tyres were the best of all. There is not any problems with the tyres when they work properly, Kimi stated.

MTV3, Jani Merimaa, Jerez

Courtesy: reppo

Massa: “A lot of work ahead of us, but the F2012 shows plenty of potential”

Jerez de la Frontera, 8 February – Felipe Massa has seen so much in his life that these two days of testing that apparently have not exactly been up to much, at least if you look at the time sheets, are not enough to scare him. Today, like yesterday, Felipe is a long way off the top of the times, seventh, 1”893 off Michael Schumacher who was fastest today. But it was not enough to wipe away his trademark smile.

“These two days have been different to usual, at least compared to what we’ve been used to at the start of previous years,” explained the Brazilian when he met with journalists. “This car is packed with elements that need plenty of fine tuning and they are different to what we had on previous cars. We concentrated on setting up a lot of specific points and there is still a lot to do: as usual, some things work the way they should, others less so. For example, I did a lot of laps at constant speed to gather information on the aerodynamics and on the general handling, because we need to be sure of the direction in which we need to go on the development front.”

Some aspects have been positive, as Felipe explained: “We made some set-up changes from yesterday to today and the results this produced were what we had expected. It’s important that this happened, as it means the car is reacting in the right way. Obviously, there is still a lot to do, maybe more than we had expected before we started, but we are definitely not scared of hard work!

“I think the F2012 could well suit my driving style better than the previous car: for example, there is much less understeer,” continued Felipe. “It’s only a case of working on it calmly and with concentration and that’s what we will continue to do over the next few days when Fernando drives. I think this car has great potential, also taking into account the point we are at now. Is this the ugliest Ferrari I’ve ever driven? I don’t know, as from the cockpit you can’t see the front wing and therefore not the step either: but definitely from the outside, it’s not the prettiest…”

Source: Ferrari.com

Schumi and Webber shine on day two at Jerez

Michael Schumacher led the way with the "old" while Mark Webber shone for the "new" brigade on day two of the pre-season test at Jerez

Whereas the returning Kimi Räikkönen and the stepped noses dominated the headlines on the opening day, it was Schumacher and his 2011 W02 that produced the goods on Wednesday.

With Mercedes opting to only introduce their new challenger at the Barcelona test, Schumacher and team-mate Nico Rosberg are putting a developed 2011 chassis through its paces in the south of Spain.

According to the BBC's Lee McKenzie, the Brackley squad are running the old car as "they are trying to hide a clever new front wing they have developed - they don't want their rivals to see it too early".

Schumacher, who was the second busiest man on the track having completed 132 laps, had no problems topping the timesheets as he was the only driver to dip under the 1:18 mark.

Webber, though, proved that there is once again plenty of pace in the new Red Bull as he was only 0.623 off Schumacher's best effort of 1:18.561.

The RB8 was the most impressive of the "new" cars, but Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo kept his Australian compatriot honest most of the time and was a further 0.403 off his pace.

Jules Bianchi, driving for Force India in the morning session before handing over to Paul di Resta in the afternoon, put in a decent shift and his 1:20.221 earned him fourth place with Lotus' Räikkönen completing the top five.

Räikkönen was limited to a handful of laps in the morning after he hit a bump at the end of a kerb and some debris went flying off his car.

Ferrari and McLaren were once again well down the timesheets with Felipe Massa in seventh place with a 1:20.454 and Jenson Button a further 0.234s behind in eighth spot.

"The thing to remember about Ferrari is that this is a revolutionary car for them," Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz reported.

"It's taken them in a direction away from the direction they'd taken in the last few years and with such aggressive concepts as the pullrod suspension and the very tight aero packaging, the team say they have a lot to learn and understand about the new car."

He added: "The team tell us they're not even looking at Webber's 1:19.1s and at present they don't know if they can match it, because that's not the focus of their work. That's reassuring for Ferrari fans, but I'm sure the drivers will be anxious to know where they stand in terms of pace as soon as possible."

McLaren also insisted at the close that it's all about learning.

"Another productive day: 85 laps and a 1m20.688s best. Lots learned today - despite the cold. Lewis already here and raring to go tomorrow!" McLaren's twitter feed read.

Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen was the busiest man, having completed 139 laps, while HRT's Pedro de la Rosa, who is driving a 2011 car, was more than four seconds off the pace with a 1:22.628.

Times
1. M Schumacher Mercedes GP W02 1:18.561 132
2. M Webber Red Bull RB8 1:19.184 +0.623 97
3. D Ricciardo Toro Rosso STR7 1:19.587 +1.026 100
4. J Bianchi Force India VJM-05 1:20.221 +1.660 46
5. K Räikkönen Lotus E20 1:20.239 +1.678 116
6. P di Resta Force India VJM-05 1:20.272 +1.711 67
7. F Massa Ferrari F2012 1:20.454 +1.893 93
8. J Button McLaren MP4-27 1:20.688 +2.127 83
9. S Perez Sauber C31 1:20.711 +2.150 66
10. P Maldonado Williams FW34 1:21.197 +2.636 95
11. H Kovalainen Caterham CT01 1:21.518 +2.957 139
12. P de la Rosa HRT F111 1:22.128 +3.567 64

Source: Planet-F1

Räikkönen arranged a familiar engineer into a key-position

Kimi Räikkönen is pleased now that he got Mark Slade as his own race engineer to Lotus

Räikkönen and Slade already worked together in McLaren. Now Slade will switch from Mercedes to Lotus starting from the last testing session before the opening race.

- I wanted him. Of course many things have to succeed in order for that to happen. Fortunately he came. I have a good engineer right now also, but Mark because I know him and he knows what I want, Räikkönen told MTV3.

- He has worked here before so I'm sure it's easier to start with him in a new team when he already has information about the team, Kimi justified.

Courtesy: Nicole

Ice cream eating and other strange Räikkös-questions

Kimi Räikkönen's press conferences in Jerez have interested the international reporters really much

During a couple of days they had already asked him about many things. MTV3.fi collected some of the strangest questions:

- Have you talked with Ferrari's employees like Massa for example? an Italian reporter asked Räikkönen.

- I said hi to him and he said hi to me when I saw him in the hotel this morning, Kimi replied.

One reporter wanted to know if Räikkönen had missed the reporters in F1-paddock:

- We missed you but did you miss us?

- I think you missed me more, Räikkönen said and made the reporters laugh.

Kimi was asked to compare if the atmosphere in WRC was different than in F1?

- Yes. In many ways. It doesn't change anything by talking about it. It's a different sport. They have a different way of doing things. Those all make the atmosphere different and give a different feeling between the teams and the drivers. The drivers aren't racing each other the same way as in F1 so that alone is a big difference. It changes a lot how people treat each other, Kimi said.

An American reporter wanted to know Kimi's thoughts about Nascar:

- You drove in Nationwide and truck-series. How seriously did you consider a career in US?

- If I could still live in Europe then I would probably had continued there but I would have to live in US and I wasn't very interested to move there. I had fun when testing and racing those cars. They have laidback but professional people there. The cars maybe don't look so good but they are well built. Who knows, maybe I will drive there more some day, Kimi said.

This week's most strange Räikkös-question was presented to Eric Boullier when he was asked: Do you have your ice cream storage filled for Kimi?

The question referred to Kimi's ice cream eating after he retired in 2009 Malaysia, but Boullier didn't understand the context.

- Does he like ice cream? Boullier asked before the backgrounds of the question were explained to him.



Courtesy: Nicole

Schumacher Sets Early Pace In Jerez

Michael Schumacher, driving Mercedes GP's 2011 car, set the tone on the second morning of pre-season testing at Jerez

While all things "new" shone on day one on Tuesday with the returning Kimi Räikkönen and stepped noses grabbing the headlines, it was the turn of the "old" to take the limelight on Wednesday.

With Mercedes opting to only introduce their new challenger in Barcelona, Schumacher and team-mate Nico Rosberg are putting a developed 2011 car through its paces in the south of Spain.

That, though, didn't stop the seven-time World Champion from setting the pace in the morning.

After Red Bull's Mark Webber dominated the early stages in the new RB8, Schumacher suddenly produced the goods out of nowhere to become the first man to dip under the 1:18 mark.

His 1:18.622 on soft rubber put him comfortably at the top of the timesheets and he proved that mark was no fluke as he posted a 1:18.561 soon after.

Webber was second quickest with a 1:19.184 with Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo 0.403 off his time in third place.

Tuesday's star Raikkonen had a brief run off the track early in the day. He hit a bump at the end of a kerb and some debris came flying off his car. He returned to the garage and the team changed his plank.

The Finn's best effort of the morning was a 1:20.239 to put him in fifth place while McLaren's Jenson Button posted the sixth best time.

Ferrari have promised that they will "collect as many data as possible to understand better the behaviour of the car. So, don't expect to see spectacular lap times from our side".

That was the case in the morning as Felipe Massa could only manage a 1:21.060.

Unofficial times:
1 M Schumacher Mercedes 1:18.622 53 laps
2 M Webber Red Bull 1:19.184 58
3 D Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:19.587 41
4 J Bianchi Force India 1:20.221 46
5 K Räikkkönen Lotus 1:20.239 31
6 J Button McLaren 1:20.688 (29)
7 F Massa Ferrari 1:21.060 45
8 P Maldonado Williams 1:21.197 61
9 S Perez Sauber 1:21.289 35
10 H Kovalainen Caterham 1:21.518 78
11 P de la Rosa HRT 1:23.468 23

Source: Planet-F1

Video: BBC - Kimi Räikkönen Interview after Day 1 Jerez testing

Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest time on his first day of running with other drivers since his return to Formula 1



Source: Formula1Arab

Kimi, can we start talking about winning?

Kimi Räikkönen took calmly the top time in Jerez F1 test on the opening day.

Räikkönen charged his new Lotus car to top speed immediately, faster than any in the last year's Jerez test. So can we start talking about victories or podium finishes on the beginning season?

- Hard to say. I have no idea. This first day has not changed anything. I do not know how we compare to others. Maybe we will know it in the last tests, or the first race. Then you'll see it. Hopefully we get a good result to be able to fight against the other top teams. It remains to be seen, Räikkönen said to MTV3.

The new E20 car worked well in the hands of Räikkönen.

- The car left a good impression. It worked quite well. There is of course room for improvement. If you run longer stints, tyres go bad and starts to slip. There is still work to be done to keep the tyres in better condition. But I would say that I have had worse first days, Räikkönen summed up feelings of his car.

MTV3, Jani Merimaa, Jerez

Courtesy: reppo

Jerez Day One: Day belongs to Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi Räikkönen's first official day back in Formula One ended in glory as the Lotus driver claimed the P1 slot as pre-season testing got underway

Behind the wheel of his new Lotus E20 and permitted to go higher than second gear - Raikkonen had put the car through a shakedown a day earlier where he could go into second gear due to filming commitments - the Iceman quickly shook off any lingering rust.

Raikkonen moved to the top of the timesheets early on before lowering the benchmark to a 1:19.670 midway through the morning session.

That time proved to be unbeatable as Tuesday's running progressed, ensuring the 32-year-old started his comeback in the rather familiar position of P1.

"Lap times may mean little at this stage, but it's still great to see Kimi at the top," Tweeted his Lotus team.

Paul di Resta, in action for Force India with their new VJM05, was second quickest as his morning time, as well as that of Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg, was untouchable.

The first change from the morning to the afternoon's order was with Mark Webber. The Aussei clocked a 1:21.474 prior to lunch having only completed eight laps after Red Bull were forced to wait for parts for their new RB8.

But once underway properly in the afternoon, Webber worked his way down to a 1:20.496, putting in another 46 laps.

Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo was next in line even though his day was cut short due to an oil pressure problem in the afternoon which resulted in the first red flag of the day.

"Daniel felt confident in the car and we ran trouble free until we lost some oil pressure, at which point the engine protector did its job and stopped the car," explained team boss Franz Tost.

"We are now investigating this loss of oil pressure, but we are confident we can have another good day tomorrow. As the failure happened at four o'clock, we only lost one hour's track time which we expect to make up for tomorrow.

"The car looks nice but the important thing is that it should be fast. My first impression, having enjoyed the rare experience of going out onto the track to watch it in action through some corners this morning, is that the basis of the car is quite good and healthy."

The only other red flag of the day belonged to Kamui Kobayashi, who was seventh quickest behind Michael Schumacher. The Japanese driver came to a halt out on track 30 minutes before the close of play. But with 104 laps under his belt, Sauber won't be too concerned.

Jenson Button and Felipe Massa, both of whom had quiet days in their new cars, were eighth and ninth quickest ahead of Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen.

Kovalainen's running, though, was cut short when a damaged starter shaft brought his day to its conclusion an hour before schedule.

"Testing finished for the day unfortunately," Tweeted Mike Gascoyne. "No problem with the car but a damaged starter shaft means we can't start it."

But despite that minor issue, Kovalainen was happy to be back in action. "We were first out on track this morning and the early feeling I had from the car was good. It's far too early to tell how much we've progressed but it already feels like we're going in the right direction.

"We obviously didn't want to end early today but we couldn't sort out the starter shaft issue in time to get back on track, but I'm reasonably pleased with what we have achieved today and I know the team will put in the work tonight to get us back out on track tomorrow and pick up where we left off today."

Unofficial Times
01 Räikkönen Lotus C20 1:19.670 75 laps
02 Di Resta Force India VJM05 1:19.772 101 laps
03 Rosberg Mercedes GP W02 1:20.219 56 laps
04 Webber Red Bull RB8 1:20.496 54 laps
05 Ricciardo Toro Rosso STR7 1:20.694 57 laps
06 Schumacher Mercedes GP W02 1:20.794 42 laps
07 Kobayashi Sauber C31 1:21.353 106 laps
08 Button McLaren MP4-27 1:21.350 62 laps
09 Massa Ferrari F2012 1:22.815 69 laps
10 Kovalainen Caterham CT01 1:23.178 28 laps
11 Maldonado Williams FW34 1:23.371 25 laps
12 De la Rosa HRT F111 1:23.676 44 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Jerez: Flying start to Kimi's comeback

Kimi Räikkönen's return to Formula One was off to the perfect start at Jerez on Tuesday as the Finn posted the fastest lap time of the morning

Behind the wheel of his new Lotus E20 - just one of nine brand new cars in action on the first day of pre-season testing - the 32-year-old clocked a 1:19.670.

It was an impressive start to his comeback as not once during the session did Räikkönen relinquish the P1 slot,

Paul di Resta, who was putting Force India's new VJM05 through its paces, was next in line, 0.102s behind Räikkönen while Nico Rosberg, who was driving a modified version of last year's W02, was third.

Exciting Toro Rosso prospect Daniel Ricciardo was fourth quickest, edging out Mark Webber and Kamui Kobayashi.

Webber, though, had a slow start to his morning as the Aussie only ventured out late as Red Bull had to wait for components to arrive. He managed just eight laps with a best time of 1:21.474.

Jenson Button, the only one riving a new car that did not feature a stepped nose design, finished ahead of Felipe Massa. Button, though, reportedly had a few problems with the floor of his MP4-27 overheating.

Meanwhile, Ferrari were happy with Massa's first few hours as he put in the laps in his flo-painted F2012, finishing just over three seconds adrift of Räikkönen's best.

"The first part of today's job has been completed without any issue on the car," the Italian stable Tweeted.

"Felipe completed a total of 51 laps, the quickest in 1.22.815."

Heikki Kovalainen and Pastor Maldonado also debuted their teams' new cars while Pedro de la Rosa completed the timesheets in last year's HRT.

Unofficial Times
1. Räikkönen 1:19.670 50 laps
2 Di Resta 1:19.772 52
3 Rosberg 1:20.219 56
4 Ricciardo 1:20.694 40
5 Webber 1:21.474 8
6 Kobayashi 1:22.112 29
7 Button 1:22.366 22
8 Massa 1:22.815 51
9 Kovalainen 1:23.178 23
10 Maldonado 1:23.371 16
11 De la Rosa 1:24.209 32

Source: Planet-F1