Raikkonen Quickest at Valencia - Day Three

Finn Kimi Raikkonen set the quickest time on the third day of testing at Valencia, finishing more than a whole second ahead of the closest of his rivals.

On a day with almost perfect weather, McLaren driver Raikkonen set his fastest time so far at the Spanish circuit, posting a quickest lap of 1:10.625 after 62 laps as he continued to work on the development of the Mercedes-powered MP4-17D the team will use at the start of the season.

Raikkonen finished more than a second ahead of German Nick Heidfeld, who today took over from teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen at the wheel of the new C22. Despite an engine problem in the morning, Heidfeld was still capable of completing his programme.

"Weather conditions were perfect in the morning and again very gusty winds in the afternoon," said Sauber's Jacky Eeckelaert, head of vehicle engineering. "Nick Heidfeld was able to spend the morning validating all the aerodynamic data that we gathered with Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the previous two days.

"Unfortunately our programme was interrupted just before the lunch break after 42 laps when we experienced an engine problem, which has still to be investigated. We were able to change engine however and Nick resumed running this afternoon to complete a tyre test with Bridgestone."

Briton Gary Paffett continued testing for McLaren after being called up at short notice to replace unwell David Coulthard. Paffett, the German Formula Three champion, showed promising pace, finishing in fourth place ahead of McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, quickest yesterday, set the fifth quickest time of the day after 87 laps in the second of the Williams cars. Spaniard Marc Gene was third fastest.

"We had a productive day continuing on with our testing schedule," said Williams's test team manager Tim Newton. "It was a fairly routine day, nothing outstanding yet a reasonable amount of mileage was accumulated. We ran tyre tests with both drivers in addition to chassis and brake work.

"Marc continued driving the new BMW P83 engine with a FW24D 01 chassis while Juan drove a FW24 03. It is the penultimate day of a three-week stint of testing. The test team has worked relentlessly and will continue again at Barcelona after the new car launch next Friday."

Testing at Valencia concludes tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:10.625 62 2. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:11.778 72 3. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:12.725 63 4. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:12.893 54 5. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:13.070 87 6. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:13.119 18 All Timing Unofficial

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