Day 6 - Bahrain Test

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit - 5.412 km 
Driver: Kimi Raikkonen
Car: Ferrari F60
Weather: air temperature 20/29 °C, track temperature 21/35 °C. Sunny, hazy skies in the morning, then overcast in the afternoon.

Once again today at Sakhir, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro continued with the test session that began at this track last week, alongside BMW and Toyota.

On Kimi Raikkonen’s programme was evaluation of various set up options on the Ferrari F60, of the Bridgestone tyres available and on development of new components. A problem with the cooling element of the energy recovery system, shortly after 11.30, delayed the proramme as it lead to a three hour stop. Once it was fixed Kimi concentrated on long runs interspersed with pit stops. Yet again the day ended with practice starts on the grid.

The day in figures is as follows: 107 laps completed by Kimi, the quickest in a time of 1.32.102.

The Scuderia continues testing at this circuit tomorrow, when Felipe Massa will return to the track.

DAY 6 TIMES:
01. Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1:32.102
02. Trulli - Toyota - 1:32.230
03. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber - 1:32.585

Kimi Raikkonen’s last day of testing at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain was extremely troubled. At the start everything seemed to go well, when he did several stints to check the different set ups. Just after 11:30am the car started to have a problem with the KERS’ cooling circuit and the Finnish driver had to come to the box. Until then Kimi had driven 40 laps, the fastest in a time of 1.33.108.

The stop to repair the KERS took more than three hours: just after 3pm - the first lap was driven at 3:20pm - Kimi came back on the track. Nevertheless there was one positive aspect, as the Team was able to experiment with an emergency in case of a KERS failure. During the winter break lots of analytic work was done and the Team has been profoundly trained as far as the KERS is concerned. This knowledge could be used today. The Team followed all procedures in a rigorous and precise way, but especially under absolute safety. Obviously Kimi and everybody else at the Ferrari box at Sakhir and at the Gestione Sportiva in Maranello would have preferred to stay out on the track, but this unexpected incident was a useful experience for the future.