Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen, driving a Lotus, clocked the best time of the week on the final day of pre-season Formula One testing at Montmelo on Sunday. The Finn, who has returned to the sport after a spell in the World Rally Championship, timed 1min 22.030sec after completing 121 laps. In sharp contrast, defending world champion Sebastian Vettel was the slowest on the day with a time of 1:23.608 in his Red Bull after his team managed just 23 laps. “We would have liked more time on the track, but we had a problem in the morning,” said Vettel “I went on the circuit and broke the front wing, lost time and then, just before the interval, we had a problem with the gearbox.” Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who was eighth fastest on Sunday, believes the testing period has demonstrated that there will be little to choose between the teams this season.
“The car felt good from the very beginning, and we have managed to improve it over the test days, so I think we can say that we are very well prepared,” said the Mercedes driver.
“Again, what this means compared to our competitors is something I want only to go into after some races, as we all know that testing does not show everything. What we can say though is that the field is tighter than it has been, so we are looking forward to an exciting season.” The 2012 Formula One season gets underway in Melbourne on March 18.
Sunday times:
1. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault) 1min 22.030sec (121 laps), 2. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) 1:22.250 (115), 3. Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams-Renault) 1:22.296 (53), 4. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India-Mercedes) 1:22.312 (101), 5. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber-Ferrari) 1:22.386 (72), 6. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:22.430 (115), 7. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham-Renault) 1:22.795 (101), 8. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes-AMG) 1:22.939 (100), 9. Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Renault) 1:23.347 (48), 10. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:23.393 (100), 11. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault) 1:23.608 (23)
Week’s best times:
1. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault) 1:22.030 (164 laps), 2. Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber-Ferrari) 1:22.094 (232) 3. Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:22.103 (108), 4. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:22.155 (231), 5. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) 1:22.250 (240), 6. Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams-Renault) 1:22.296 (212), 7. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India-Mercedes) 1:22.312 (137), 8. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber-Ferrari) 1:22.386 (149), 9. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1:22.413 (227), 10. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:22.430 (180)
11. Paul Di Resta (GBR/Force India-Mercedes) 1:22.446 (206), 12. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus-Renault) 1:22.614 (197), 13. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham-Renault) 1:22.630 (168), 14. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault) 1:22.662 (172), 15. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham-Renault) 1:22.795 (224), 16. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes-AMG) 1:22.932 (257), 17. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes-AMG) 1:22.939 (179), 18. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:23.126 (158), 19. Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Renault) 1:23.347 (126), 20. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault) 1:23.361 (108)
Ferrari chief writes off Australian chances
Ferrari technical director Pat Fry admitted on Sunday that the Italian giants will struggle to make the podium at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time. Fry was speaking after the final pre-season test wound up at Montmelo, a four-day session that saw former world champion Fernando Alonso manage only the fifth-fastest time of 1min 22.250sec from an exhausting 240 laps. Team-mate Felipe Massa was ninth on the time charts overall with 1min 22.413sec after completing 227 laps. Kimi Raikkonen, in a Lotus, was the fastest overall with Sergio Perez, in a Sauber, McLaren driver Jenson Button and Daniel Ricciardo, in the unheralded Toro Rosso, all finishing in front of the lavishly funded Ferraris. “In the hunt for the podium in Melbourne? At the moment I’d say no,” Fry told the Ferrari website. “We are disappointed with the performance level seen at these tests and I think we have a lot of work ahead of us. Clearly the decision relating to the exhausts that we took last week meant we took a few steps backwards in terms of development. “How much? Difficult to say right now. In testing, you can only make assumptions regarding what fuel loads the other cars are running and it will only be in Melbourne that we will get a clear answer as to whether we have to be very disappointed or just a little, how far we really are off the front runners and consequently how much ground we have to make up to get there.”