Raikkonen First At Tests At Sakhir

Sakhir, 13th February - In January at Mugello it was the rain and yesterday here in Sakhir it was the sand preventing Kimi Raikkonen to drive the new Ferrari F60 on a dry track. But finally today, when the weather conditions improved and the wind stopped blowing sand all over the place, Kimi was there. Although it has to be said that the track was not in perfect condition in the morning, but after two hours of driving the lap times started to drop. All in all it was possible to do some serious work. "The track was very slippery in the morning, due to the sand, but we managed to go ahead with our programme," Kimi said at the end of the day. "It's a pity for the time we lost over the last days, but it didn't depend on us. This happens and you just have to accept it. My first day with the new F60 on a dry track was extremely positive. I immediately had a good feeling although it's still too early to say where we are compared to our competitors. The car is improving and there are no especially critical areas. We used the KERS also today and I'm happy with how it works, apart from some minor childhood disease."

Today Kimi was the fastest driver on the track with a lap time of 1.33.325, followed by the Toyota with Jarno Trulli (1.33.429) and the BMW with Christian Klien (1.33.666). The most laps were driven by the Italian (127), two more than his Austrian colleague, while Kimi drove 105.

The test will proceed on Monday, 16th February for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro with Kimi behind the wheel.

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit - 5.412 km 
Driver:  Kimi Raikkonen
Car:     Ferrari F60
Weather: air temperature 16/21 °C, 
                track temperature 16/29 °C. 
                Sunny with hazy skies.

After two days affected by poor visibility, finally the weather in Bahrain improved enough so that this day of testing could proceed as normal. Therefore, Kimi Raikkonen, who was unable to do anything at all yesterday, managed to get his first run in the Ferrari F60 on a dry track, even if it was still very dirty because of a covering of sand in the first hours of the morning. Kimi concentrated mainly on finding the best set-up for the car and covered a total of 105 laps, setting a best time of 1.33.350. The only hiccough on the day was down to an hydraulic problem which occurred shortly after 3 pm and was then fixed.

The Scuderia will resume testing at this circuit on Monday 16th February, again with Kimi Raikkonen on track.

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