|
The Finn's lap of one minute 17.221 seconds
around Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya was the second fastest
of the eight days of winter testing and slower only than team
mate Sebastian Vettel's best on Thursday.
McLaren's Fernando Alonso had a rollercoaster day, sidelined for
nearly five hours by an oil leak and engine change before
charging back out to set the second quickest time on the same
hypersoft tires.
The Spaniard, who completed 93 laps after failing to set a time
in the morning, was 0.563 slower than Raikkonen.
Compatriot Carlos Sainz was third fastest for Renault, after
losing time to a gearbox problem in the morning.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo was fourth in a Red Bull and
Frenchman Romain Grosjean completed an impressive few days for
Haas in fifth.
"I think we will be close enough to be in the hunt," said
Ricciardo, who now heads to a season-opening home race on March
25. "It's been a better winter than last year.
"Ferrari turned it up the last couple of days but we are there
or thereabouts. It looks like Ferrari can challenge Mercedes if
we can't and it could be quite close."
Grosjean did a marathon 181 laps in the Ferrari-powered car on
Friday, more than anyone else on a day that started cool but
warmed up, while compatriot Esteban Ocon put in 163 for Force
India.
Four times world champion Lewis Hamilton shared the Mercedes
with Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas, the pair doing 97 and
104 laps respectively as they focused on long runs rather than
outright speed.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
