Valencia 3: Kimi's record
McLaren returned to Formula 1 testing form as Kimi Raikkonen claimed the Valencia lap record today (Thursday). Mark Webber's Jaguar wasn't far behind the flying Finn, who was the first man to break the track's 1m09s barrier
Juan Pablo Montoya's lap record of 1m09.103s, set yesterday, lasted less than 24 hours as Raikkonen did his lap during a morning low-fuel run, before embarking on a trouble-free long run. Webber's R5 did the same, also shading Montoya's mark from yesterday.
The Williams pair were third and fourth, with Ralf Schumacher followed by Montoya. Schumacher stopped twice on the track today, the first time with an unidentified fluid leak. This interrupted his planned long run, and the same thing happened to Montoya when he was halted by a sensor problem.
David Coulthard also did some healthy and trouble-free long runs, and was pleased with the team's reliability after some dire days in recent tests. But he says there is nothing to be concluded from today's running.
"I still have no idea where we are until Melbourne," said Coulthard. "We're getting a lot done in our testing programme, trying to get the best performance and reliability from the car. But we'll see in Australia. The whole point for now is building up the confidence level in the new car, but I can't say who we'll be fighting at the first race."
Webber's Jaguar team-mate Christian Klien, although bottom of the timesheet, was beaming after a very successful 97-lap race simulation. He looked good in the car and his confidence in the car is evidently on the up, despite a long brake pedal towards the end of his run.
The BAR's were less spectacular than usual with Takuma Sato, Jenson Button and test driver Anthony Davidson down in sixth, seventh and ninth. Davidson conducted brake testing and found some good solutions for Melbourne, where braking is of particular concern.
Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1m08.998s 69
Mark Webber (Jaguar) 1m09.096s 127
Ralf Schumacher (Williams-BMW) 1m09.406s 76
Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) 1m09.436s 119
David Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) 1m09.493s 105
Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda) 1m09.615s 92
Jenson Button (BAR-Honda) 1m09.706 81
Ricardo Zonta (Toyota) 1m10.092s 119
Anthony Davidson (BAR-Honda) 1m10.292s 52
Cristiano da Matta (Toyota) 1m10.733s 56
Christian Klien (Jaguar) 1m11.323s 124
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