After his teammate Felipe Massa recorded the fastest lap time during the second day of testing at the Spa Francorchamps, Kimi Raikkonen ensured that they will be heading to the European Grand Prix with the fastest testing session time. The said circuit will be the venue of the fourteenth race of the season - the Belgian Grand Prix.
The testing sessions not only gave Formula One teams the chance to test their cars and improve their performance ahead of the European Grand Prix but also gave the drivers the chance to become familiar with the redesigned tracks in Spa.
Kimi Raikkonen took over driving duties for Ferrari after teammate Felipe Massa tested for the team during the first two test sessions. The Finn continued the program started by his Brazilian teammate. On the first day of testing, it was McLaren's Lewis Hamilton who recorded the fastest lap time. On the second day, the rookie sensation turned over driving duties to teammate and double world champion Fernando Alonso.
Raikkonen's fastest lap time during the third day of testing is slower than the time posted by Massa previously. The Finn's fastest time around the circuit was 1 minute and 47.042 seconds. Even though it was slower than the times posted by Hamilton and Massa, it was enough to give Ferrari the edge going into the European Grand Prix practice and qualifying sessions.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica continued his driving duties for the German-Swiss Formula One team on the third day of testing. On board his F1.07 with BMW engine and racing parts as reliable as BMW 318 parts, the Pole finished the three-day testing session with a second place finish.
The Polish Formula One driver bounced back from his eleventh position during the second day of testing which was hampered by rain showers. During the said testing day, Kubica's car malfunctioned but apparently has been fixed. His fastest lap tie is only about two tenths of a second slower than Raikkonen's.
McLaren's Fernando Alonso posted the third fastest lap time during the last day of testing. The double world champion who is currently second in the driver's championship standings covered 75 laps for the day even with the unpredictable weather changes.
McLaren continued their program of testing their suspension setting which will be of utmost importance at the Belgian Grand Prix as well as the four other races leading to the Belgian round.
Fourth fastest on the final testing day was Mark Weber driving for Red Bull. Although the Australian Formula One driver made his first appearance behind the wheel of the team's car and a couple of mechanical problems, he still managed to post the fourth fastest lap time. This, of course, is welcome news to the struggling team.
"The weather and a couple of mechanical bothers meant that overall, we did not cover the sort of mileage we had been hoping for over the three days," said Ian Morgan, the team's chief test engineer. "However, on the positive side, we have learnt a lot about a track we had not visited for a while, we completed our tire comparison program, as well as trying Bridgestone's rain tires and we also signed off some new aero and mechanical components for use at next week's European Grand Prix."
