Raikkonen sets blistering pace in Bahrain

Helped by improved weather conditions, with nearly no wind, Raikkonen managed a best time of 1:30.595 after carrying out a Grand Prix simulation with the F2008.

Raikkonen's best lap was over two seconds faster than the pole position time of last year's Grand Prix.

Badoer, meanwhile, carried out general development of the new car, covering 64 laps.

Italian Jarno Trulli joined Toyota teammate Timo Glock for today's session, as the Japanese squad continued working on the development of the new TF108.

German Glock was the quickest of the Toyota duo, albeit over two second slower than Raikkonen. Trulli finished nearly three seconds behind the Finn after losing track time due to a problem with his car.

"It was a difficult day because we had a problem on the car so unfortunately I spent some time in the garage while this was fixed but that is part of testing," said Trulli

"Obviously it wasn't ideal but we have more days here where we will work to better understand the balance and behaviour of the car. At the moment we are still in the first stages of our preparation - we have updates and more performance to come."

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time     Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  1:30.595   77
 2.  Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:32.230   64
 3.  Glock         Toyota               (B)  1:32.889   71
 4.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:33.379   60

All Timing Unofficial