Kimi Fastest on His Final Test Day

From Autosport.com
Kimi Raikkonen dominated the second day of testing at the Barcelona
circuit, where all Formula One teams were again in action on Tuesday. Ferrari driver Raikkonen posted a best time of 1:20.314 onboard the
F60 to finish over half a second in front of his closest rival,
Williams’s Kazuki Nakajima.

The Brawn GP team continued to show good form in their first public
outing, with Rubens Barrichello setting the third fastest time after a
total of 111 laps.

The Brazilian, who had not driven an F1 car since the end of the
2008 season, got his first taste of the BGP-001 after taking over from
teammate Jenson Button.

Jarno Trulli had another solid day for Toyota, completing 121 laps
on his way to the fourth quickest time of the day, ahead of Red Bull’s
Mark Webber and BMW’s Sauber Nick Heidfeld.

The Toro Rosso team, who unveiled their new car yesterday, had a
poor outing this time out, with Sebastien Bourdais managing just 14
laps before the STR4 suffered a mechanical problem.

Teammate Sebastien Buemi took over in the afternoon, but the Swiss
completed only six laps, bringing Toro Rosso’s total to a disappointing
20 for the whole session.

Today’s times:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time     Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:20.314   55
 2.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota      (B)  1:20.907   66
 3.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes       (B)  1:20.966  111
 4.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:21.182  121
 5.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  1:21.347   66
 6.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (B)  1:21.615  127
 7.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes (B)  1:21.834   82
 8.  Alonso        Renault              (B)  1:21.937  111
 9.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1:21.991   88
10.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  1:23.039   14
11.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  no time     6

From FerrariWorld.com
Today had two faces for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. It was Kimi Raikkonen’s last day of testing before his departure for the Australian Grand Prix and today, after testing different setups on the F60, he had a complete race weekend simulation on his agenda with three qualifying sessions and the race. Unfortunately, the programme could not be completed because the KERS started losing cooling liquid after around 10 laps into the race simulation. Until this moment, Kimi had driven 55 laps, the fastest a time of 1.20.314, the best performance at these test sessions.

"We
had a problem with the KERS’ cooling system and we preferred to stop
and not risk greater damage. Until then everything went really well. I
think that once we’ve resolved these small problems with the
reliability, we can say that we’ve got a very good package available.
Sure, I would have liked to make a second race simulation, after the
one we’ve done at Bahrain in February, but it’s better that some things
happen during the tests and not at a GP." 

"Honestly, I’ve no idea who could be seen
as the favourite. There was a great equilibrium until now between the
teams and I think that we have to wait until Melbourne to know more.
From our point of view I can say that I’m satisfied with what we’ve
done at the test sessions during the winter. The car behaves very well
and that’s what’s most important; we’ve checked that on different
circuits. Sure, we did have some minor problem with the reliability,
but nothing we can’t resolve in the works; and then the weather
sometimes didn’t work out for us and we wanted to drive a couple of
miles more. But it doesn’t make any sense looking back. I can’t wait
for the races to start. You know that I like the races best in Formula
1."

From Formula1.com
Q&A with Kimi

Q: Kimi, how are you feeling two weeks before the start of the season?
Kimi Raikkonen: I feel okay and the car seems to be good. So let’s wait and see how we are doing at the first race.

Q: On your last day there was a problem with the car’s KERS…
KR: I
don’t know exactly what the problem was – the engineers are checking
it. I guess it was a small leakage in the cooling system, and I am sure
they will fix it. Apart from that everything worked very well.

Q: Will reliability be the biggest concern this year for everybody?
KR: Well,
the rules are new and with KERS there are always chances that something
could go wrong, as we haven’t had so much testing with it. But I think
we are on a pretty good level with it, so hopefully everything goes
well.

Q: Last year you didn’t seem to have a car that you really enjoyed driving. Do you feel more comfortable in the F60?
KR: I
am happy with how the car works now. But of course testing is something
very different to racing and we are going to many different tracks, so
we will have to wait and see. But as I said, for now I am pretty happy
and the rest we will see in a few weeks.

Q: Are you happy with both the consistency over long runs and quick single laps?
KR: I
mean it was okay as we haven’t really pushed for a special lap time.
The car is handling well and that is the main thing, and if we don’t
face anymore problems we should be okay. It is very difficult to say
what everybody is doing so we better wait until the first race with any
predictions.

Q: You are heavier than Felipe Massa. How big
is the weight penalty for you when KERS is on board? Are you restricted
in any way when setting the car up?
KR: That doesn’t seem to be a problem and we are more or less where we need to be with the weight – so it should be okay.

Q: So that won’t be a handicap for you for in Melbourne?
KR: If the car works as well as here, because we cannot move the weight distribution, there should be no issue.

Q: But obviously you have lost quite some weight. How many kilos?
KR: I don’t know. I haven’t got scales. I am happy as long as we are okay with the overall weight, that’s all that matters.

Q: Did you change your preparations over the winter?
KR: Not
really. We have done different things with the cars but apart from that
I have spent my winter just trying to get ready for the season.

Q: Does your driving style work well with the slick tyres?
KR: I
don’t know how well the others are doing, but so far I’ve been pretty
happy with how the car has been working. I am okay to start the season!


Q: The car is certainly different, but do you feel different to last year?
KR: I
don’t know anything about a different feeling. It’s a new season, so
it’s hard to know what to expect. Of course with the rule changes the
handling changes a little bit and it can get tricky if it’s bad
weather, but then that goes for everybody. I am ready to go racing, and
then we will see how well we can do.

Q: Last season you started as the reigning world champion, now you are the hunter again. Which role do you like more?
KR: I
don’t mind. Everybody starts from the same level so hopefully we can
score good points in the first few races and go from there.

Q:
You drove for McLaren for many years. This winter seems to have been a
little troublesome for them. Does that mean hope for everybody else, or
do you think they can come back?
KR: I don’t know if they have
a problem or not, and what they are doing. Let’s wait a few weeks and
we will know where they are in the first race. They haven’t probably
been as quick as in the past winter but that doesn’t mean that they
won’t be fast in the first race.

Q: What about Felipe? Is he still the same guy he was last year or has he changed a lot?
KR: I
don’t know. You should ask him. I don’t know what he’s been doing, so
if you want to know something about his life you should speak to him.

Q: Who do you see as your main competitors this year? The McLaren duo or is there somebody else?
KR: It could be all tight – but then again, it might not be. I don’t know more than anybody else – I just see the times. That’s it.

Q: Have you rediscovered the fun of Formula One racing?
KR: It’s always been fun, but definitely if you’re doing well it’s more fun. But we haven’t started the season yet!

(Click here for the testing photo collection)

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This is sounding sweet, but I have to keep reminding myself as Kimi has been telling us all the time – let’s wait and see, till Melbourne! But Kimi has said he is happy, and he has also cheekily hinted that he and the team "haven’t pushed 100% to do any special laptimes" – could the Flying Finn have been sandbagging at Barcelona? If so, then I’m even more excited! The BMW with Nick Heidfeld at the wheel pose as the main competition looking at their times these past two weeks, so are BMW really the strongest of the lot? They haven’t had any major KERS or reliability issues, whereas Ferrari have had a few hiccups here and there, like today for example. McLaren on the other hand can’t even seem to get a decent laptime with the 2009 rear wing. Renault were looking strong a week ago but have gone quiet, obviously all these differences can’t be read in testing and so Melbourne may spring a few surprises. Nonetheless, for Kimi to go fastest (only just!) on his final testing day (possibly!), it feels good.

Kimi is enjoying the slick tyres; he’s content and happy how the F60 has been responding well to different setups and modifications. It seems Kimi and the team have improved particularly on the tyre-heating issues that have held Kimi back for long enough in the past two years, so surely these are good signs. But he is cautious and the team won’t stop in preparation for Melbourne. I laughed out loud reading Kimi’s answer on whether Massa has changed since last year – "I don’t know. You should ask him. If you want to know something about his life then you should speak to him" – what a legend! And also about how many kilos he has lost in training – "I don’t know. I haven’t got scales" – hahahaha!!!!!!!!!! Keep Flying Kimi!

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