Raikkonen flies at Valencia

The Finn, whose team have been hampered by engine problems so far, posted a fastest lap of 1:09.983, the best by a V8-engined car this year.

The time was set in the morning, when Raikkonen concentrated on short stints with his McLaren MP4-21.

His teammate Pedro de la Rosa worked on longer runs with the second McLaren, the Spaniard finishing down in fifth place after 113 laps.

The Renault team enjoyed another positive day despite Giancarlo Fisichella finishing nearly a second behind Raikkonen in the R26 car. The Italian, who caused one red flag during the day, completed 81 laps while teammate Heikki Kovalainen covered a colossal 161 in the second Renault.

David Coulthard was again the only Red Bull driver on track, the Scot continuing with the development of the revised package introduced this week. Coulthard, however, did not enjoy a good day and completed only 34 laps.

The MF1 team completed their four-day test at the Spanish circuit, with Tiago Monteiro joining teammate Christijan Albers and test driver Adrian Sutil , who yesterday made his Formula One debut.

Monteiro drove the new MF16 while Albers and Sutil were at the wheel of the hybrid car.

Between them, the Midland drivers caused three of the four red flags of the day, with Monteiro going off late in the afternoon after having stopped on track with apparent problems earlier on.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:09.983  81
 2.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1:10.912  83
 3.  Kovalainen    Renault              (M)  1:11.071 161
 4.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:11.076  34
 5.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:11.245 113
 6.  Sutil         MF1-Toyota           (B)  1:13.027  73
 7.  Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)  1:13.520  55
 8.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  1:13.815  93

All Timing Unofficial