Raikkonen sure Ferrari can go faster after topping tests

2017 F1 season

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Kimi Raikkonen says Ferrari can go even quicker after ending the final pre-season test of 2017 on top.

His lap of 1’18.634 this morning stood as the best of any team in the test by more than six-tenths of a second.

Testing day eight in pictures
Raikkonen admitted afterwards “for sure if we want we can go faster but that’s not the purpose”.

“You try to go as fast as you can whatever we decide to do,” he added.

“There’s a lot of things that we can improve and do better,” said Raikkonen, “but that’s part of testing.”

“We can be quite pleased with how it felt this morning. It’s one of the better days than we’ve had these two weeks. It’s early days. So far it’s OK but let’s see when the season starts,”

“Where we’re going to be in the first race I don’t know,” he added. “It’s the same story every winter.”

Raikkonen doubts the change in aerodynamic and tyre rules this year will play to his strength as a driver.

“I don’t think this is something an awful lot different from last year,” he said. “the tyres are a bit different, that’s changed a little bit, I wouldn’t say it’s better for me than somebody else.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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16 comments on “Raikkonen sure Ferrari can go faster after topping tests”

  1. Only around three tenths slower than the fastest ever lap of the current layout of this circuit.

    1. Which is a bit disappointing as I was hoping for either a high-17 or low-18 time, but nevertheless mid-18 is astonishing as well.

    2. @jerejj I’m pretty sure this is the lap record

      1. Eero Rantala
        11th March 2017, 7:08

        Barcelona fastest lap ever, until now
        Fastest lap 1’19.954 (Rubens Barrichello, 2009, )

        1. That’s the OFFICIAL fastest lap ever!! It means a lap set on the race (laps from Quali and Practices do not count as OFFICIAL)! The (unofficial) fastest lap ever is 1:18.339, set by Felipe Massa in 2008 tests.

      2. MG421982 (@)
        11th March 2017, 8:56

        @ Mashiat: no, it’s not.

        From Wikipedia: Felipe Massa set a time of 1:18.339 during 2008 F1 testing using a Ferrari F2008. Kimi Räikkönen managed a 1:18.634 on F1 testing, in 10 March 2017, being those the only instances when a time lower than 1:19 was achieved.

        1. @corrado-dub Wait, if Massa managed a 1:18.339 in testing, how did no one even get within 6 tenths of that?!

          1. @masiat Yeah Ferrari looked really good in testing that year. IIRC there was even some question over whether they still had some kind of traction control (TC being newly banned for 2008).

        2. @corrado-dub As far as I know Alonso set a time of 1:18.4something in the test as Massa 1:18.339, so to my knowledge at least three drivers have managed a lap time lower than 1:19.000 on the current layout.

          1. ‘in the same test’

  2. Bwoah, I don’t know I guess I was just cruising.

  3. digitalrurouni
    11th March 2017, 1:08

    Bwoah power! I’m so excited for Melbourne!

  4. Bwoah , Mercedes is the car to beat for second place .

  5. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
    11th March 2017, 18:27

    Nice lets hope they’re the fastest team come Melbourne

  6. Bob (@denovoinnc)
    13th March 2017, 0:58

    Very little can be inferred from F1 practice, but very much can be inferred from the times. These cars produce 30% more downforce and my bet is that they will smash track records (of ay sort) at every track…some by as much as 5 seconds.

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