Jerez F1 test: Kimi Raikkonen puts Ferrari back on top on Wednesday

Ferrari led the way yet again in Formula 1 pre-season testing at Jerez, with Kimi Raikkonen setting the pace at the start of day four in Spain

Jerez F1 test: Kimi Raikkonen puts Ferrari back on top on Wednesday

The Scuderia's SF15-T topped the first two days of running with Sebastian Vettel, and Raikkonen picked up where his new team-mate left off by going fastest on Tuesday morning.

While a Ferrari clean sweep was denied by Sauber's Felipe Nasr setting the outright day three pace with a soft-tyre run, Raikkonen was back on top on Wednesday morning.

Raikkonen completed several runs that included session-topping times, first on the medium-compound tyres, before going faster on a set of hards.

He then lowered his own best on a third run, again on hards, to move even further clear of the chasing pack.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was next up having also set his best lap on hard tyres, rejoining the action after he brought out the red flags with a spin at the chicane.

Hamilton and Romain Grosjean knocked Max Verstappen down to fourth, as Toro Rosso continued to log much more mileage than parent team Red Bull.

Daniil Kvyat's return to the RB11 resulted in more misfortune, with the Russian completed just eight laps before an ERS problem forced him to stop the Red Bull on track.

McLaren-Honda suffered another troubled morning after enjoying its best day on Tuesday.

Jenson Button briefly appeared early on before returning to the pits so the team could remove the floor to work on the Honda engine, and when he attempted to rejoin around 12.30 the car stopped just after the pit exit.

The McLaren took to the track again around 15 minutes later, setting the car's first sub-1m30s lap in the process.

WEDNESDAY MORNING TIMES:

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m20.841s - 106
2 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m22.019s 1.178s 112
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m22.172s 1.331s 117
4 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso/Renault 1m22.553s 1.712s 97
5 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m23.116s 2.275s 73
6 Romain Grosjean Lotus/Mercedes 1m23.802s 2.961s 53
7 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull/Renault 1m23.975s 3.134s 64
8 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1m27.660s 6.819s 35

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