Jerez F1 testing: Raikkonen puts Lotus on top on final day

The Finn set the best time of the day on a short run with the soft tyre during the afternoon running, which was extended by 30 minutes to make up for a delay caused by track repairs around lunchtime.

Raikkonen had attacked the run from the moment he left the pits, choosing to force a way past the Caterham of Charles Pic on his out lap rather than back off to get clear track.

After the short, but clearly committed run, the 2007 world champion switched back to longer runs.

Raikkonen's lap was just enough to prevent Force India hopeful Jules Bianchi from leading the way as he bids to earn a promotion to a race seat with the Silverstone-based team.

Bianchi's lap, which came just after the track re-opened following the long stoppage in the middle of the day, also came on soft tyres.

The Ferrari junior had no chance to respond to Raikkonen's lap, as he handed the Force India back to lead driver Paul di Resta for the final two hours.

World champion Sebastian Vettel was third fastest for Red Bull on a day where he focused on long runs with the medium and hard tyres.

Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez managed to go fourth with a short run, but he spent most of his afternoon getting used to how the Pirelli tyres behave on longer stints.

A series of short runs on the soft tyre helped Jean-Eric Vergne move up to fifth late in the day, moving him ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

The Briton had a much better second day with his new team, making up for his lack of running on Wednesday due to a crash by logging the most laps of anyone.

New Ferrari development driver Pedro de la Rosa got back out in the afternoon after a gearbox problem stopped the F138 in the morning. The Spaniard completed 50 laps.

TODAY'S TIMES

Pos  Driver                 Team            Time                Laps
 1.  Kimi Raikkonen         Lotus           1m18.148s           83
 2.  Jules Bianchi          Force India     1m18.175s  + 0.027  56
 3.  Sebastian Vettel       Red Bull        1m18.565s  + 0.417  96
 4.  Esteban Gutierrez      Sauber          1m18.669s  + 0.521  142
 5.  Jean-Eric Vergne       Toro Rosso      1m18.760s  + 0.612  92
 6.  Lewis Hamilton         Mercedes        1m18.905s  + 0.757  145
 7.  Sergio Perez           McLaren         1m18.944s  + 0.796  98
 8.  Valtteri Bottas        Williams        1m19.851s  + 1.703  92
 9.  Pedro de la Rosa       Ferrari         1m20.316s  + 2.168  51
10.  Charles Pic            Caterham        1m21.105s  + 2.957  109
11.  Luiz Razia             Marussia        1m21.226s  + 3.078  82
12.  Paul di Resta          Force India     1m23.435s  + 5.287  49

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