UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Kimi breaks Sakhir record

Ferrari and Toyota desert run

World Champions Ferrari and Japanese challenger Toyota completed a three-day test in Bahrain yesterday, with Kimi Raikkonen setting the Sakhir circuit alight over a series of record-breaking laps.

The Finn registered a time of 1:30.455 in the Ferrari F248, a time easily over two seconds faster than the pole position time of last year. His team mate Felipe Massa joined him on the desert circuit for the final day, coming home seven tenths of a second slower than the World Champion.

Toyota continued to put in the miles on the TF108, the car they hope will move them forward through the field this season.

Jarno Trulli completed a promising 97 laps on the last day, with a best time a second and a half down on Raikkonen, and Kamui Kobayashi – Toyota test driver – shaded the Italian by a couple of tenths as the team sought to improve.

“This was a better day for us because we had no technical problems and the weather improved quite a bit” explained Trulli, adding “We completed a lot of laps which was important because we had quite a few things to test and we needed to get some information about the different mechanical set-ups. Everything went well and we are making progress but we still have to push hard to continue this improvement."

Both teams remain in Bahrain for a further three-day test beginning on Saturday.

Written: Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:08:51