Raikkonen Flies at Silverstone

Under overcast skies and with temperatures of around 14 degrees Celsius, the Finn posted a best time of 1:18.144 to finish over one second clear of the closest rival.

McLaren, working with the set-up used for the British Grand Prix, focussed on tyre work for the Silverstone race in July, also carrying out dampers testing.

On a day where most of the Michelin runners had problems with graining, McLaren were the exception, not only setting the quickest times, but also showing their MP4-20 car treats its tyres better than its rivals.

Test driver Pedro de la Rosa confirmed McLaren's speed by finishing second behind Raikkonen, with Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella third in the timesheets.

Fisichella and teammate Fernando Alonso could finally kick off their programme after skipping yesterday's session due to the poor weather conditions.

"After the frustration of not running at all yesterday, it was good to get some serious running done today," said Renault's chief test engineer Christian Silk.
 
"We focused our work around the forthcoming Grand Prix, and obtained good directions on the tyres we want to use in the race. Fernando also began some set-up programmes."

Briton Jenson Button and teammate Takuma Sato also began their work at Silverstone after having skipped the first day of running. Button, fourth quickest, worked on aerodynamic evaluation, while Sato ran through an intensive tyre evaluation programme.

Scot David Coulthard joined teammate Christian Klien as the Red Bull team continued with their preparation work for the Canadian Grand Prix. Tomorrow, Coulthard will be replaced by American Scott Speed, who hopes to impress the team to land the third seat for the Canadian and United States Grands Prix.

Toyota driver Jarno Trulli flew from Italy, where he tested yesterday, to carry out testing work alongside teammate Ralf Schumacher. Both men focused on set-up and tyre work, doing short runs for most of the day.

Rubens Barrichello took over from Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer as the Italian squad worked both at Silverstone and Monza. Barrichello focussed on set-up for the British Grand Prix, and was happy at the end of the day after not suffering from tyre graining in his Bridgestone tyres, a problem which affected several of the Michelin-shod cars.

Nick Heidfeld was joined by Mark Webber, the Williams team completing their second day of work at the British track. Both men finished near the bottom of the times.

"Both drivers did tyre tests for the race at Silverstone in July, testing the prime and option compounds," said Williams test team manager Tim Newton. "They also evaluated some aero parts for Montreal as well as testing brake and suspension set-up. We're looking forward to some more good weather tomorrow for our last day here."

Barrichello and Jordan's Tiago Monteiro were the only two Bridgestone runners at the British track.

The Silverstone test continues tomorrow with all teams except BAR, who are expected to test at Monza.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine         Tyres  Time     Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:18.144  103
 2.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:19.212   72
 3.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1:19.286  101  
 4.  Button        BAR-Honda            (M)  1:19.601   99 
 5.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1:19.769   87   
 6.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Cosworth    (M)  1:19.773   72 
 7.  Trulli        Toyota               (M)  1:19.983  108 
 8.  Sato          BAR-Honda            (M)  1:20.135  166   
 9.  Barrichello   Ferrari              (B)  1:20.276   79   
10.  Klien         Red Bull-Cosworth    (M)  1:20.542   96 
11.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (M)  1:20.654   68 
12.  Heidfeld      Williams-BMW         (M)  1:20.947   93  
13.  Webber        Williams-BMW         (M)  1:21.085   79
14.  Monteiro      Jordan-Toyota        (B)  1:23.236  105  

All Timing Unofficial