Location: Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, Spain Drivers: Kimi
Raikkonen and Gary Paffett Weather: Raining all day Air temperature: high of 13.0 degrees Celsius Track temperature:
high of 14.7 degrees Celsius Laps run: 70 Kilometres
covered: Kimi Raikkonen approx. 105km Gary Paffett approx. 170km Best lap time of the day:
Rubens Barrichello, Honda Racing, 1m19.383 Duration of test: Four
days (31st January – 3rd February)
Team McLaren Mercedes' pre-season preparations moved to the Circuit Ricardo
Tormo in Valencia today, where Kimi Raikkonen and Gary Paffett were behind the
wheels of the MP4-21 and MP4-20 respectively.
This week’s test is another multi-team session, with Ferrari, Williams, Red
Bull and Honda also present at the 3.940km Valencia circuit.
The team's programme for the four day test will continue to focus on systems
checks and set-up work of the MP4-21, as the development programme for the car
progresses in the build-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The wet weather conditions today meant that only systems work was completed,
giving the team the opportunity to run activities such as wet launches and
fuel systems checks, the latter of which was why Kimi had a planned stoppage
on track during the morning session.
Due to the bad weather conditions
Kimi was only able to complete 27 laps, which equates to just over 105km.
His fastest time of the day, a 1m21.189, put the Finn in fourth position on
the timesheets.
Gary, who was driving the interim MP4-20, covered 170km with his work
focused on wet tyre running with Michelin. Kimi and Gary will continue in
Valencia tomorrow, with Juan Pablo Montoya and Pedro de la Rosa taking over
for Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd February.
