Ferrari, Toyota kick off Bahrain test

Both teams had skipped last weekend's test at Barcelona in order to carry out two testing sessions at the Bahraini circuit, where they will work until Wednesday and then again from Sunday to Tuesday next week.

World champion Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest man in today's test, finishing over a second ahead of Ferrari's test driver Luca Badoer. Both men were driving this year's car.

Toyota had race driver Timo Glock and tester Kamui Kobayashi working with the new TF108. German Glock finished less than a tenth behind Badoer after setting his fastest lap with new tyres near the end of the session.

"I had quite a good day and we did a lot of useful work," said Glock. "In the morning there was a lot of sand on the track and from lap to lap we went quicker as the track got cleaner.

"It was difficult to get consistent track conditions but towards the end of the day it was better and we did some important tests. It has been a pretty good session and it was important to do these mechanical set-up changes. I hope tomorrow is less windy and we can continue this work."

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:32.079   68
 2.  Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:33.323   72
 3.  Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:33.418   72
 4.  Kobayashi     Toyota               (B)  1:33.656   62

All Timing Unofficial