Bahrain – Day 1 – Räikkönen does his remake!

Kimi Räikkönen in the Ferrari F2008 set the fastest time on the first day of private testing in Bahrain. The Finn, who already achieved the three best times last week, reiterated and secured the only time under the 1’31” mark.

Felipe Massa, who accompanied him at Ferrari, takes the second position. The Brazilian had a good day until around 5 p.m. when he had to stop and caused a red flag due to a hydraulic problem.

With 53 laps to his credit, Massa was at the top of the timesheet before Räikkönen displaced him a few minutes later.

Toyota, which is present as at the beginning of the week, finds itself relegated to more than 1 second behind the F2008. Trulli and Glock were in action today driving the TF108, and it is the Italian who leads his German teammate by 0.5 seconds.

The two drivers took advantage of the warm weather conditions to test the new cooling system, doing long stints.

Dieter Gass, Toyota team leader commented: « It’s another day for our tests. We came here for the high temperatures and to test the new cooling system, which is totally different from the TF107. »

Glock added: « The track was a bit dusty this morning, but other than that, we had very good conditions. »

« We continue to make progress thanks to a better understanding of the car. I am quite satisfied with the way things are going so far. »

Bahrain Private Tests – Day 1