Raikkonen sets pace, Alonso’s surprise crash

Editor

The first day of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi is well underway with Robert Kubica racking up the laps at the Yas Marina circuit, Fernando Alonso hitting the tyre wall and Kimi Raikkonen setting the pace.

At the lunch break, Raikkonen topped the timesheets with a 1:37.768, a full 1.5 seconds clear of Romain Grosjean in second, with Nico Hulkenberg completing the top three.

All eyes were firmly on Kubica, though, as he closes in on a full Formula 1 return with Williams. The Pole completed 58 laps by the interval and placed himself sixth on the leaderboard with a fastest time of 1.41:296.

McLaren have been given permission to run two cars given that their tyre test in Brazil was cancelled, but Fernando Alonso's running was disrupted when he crashed into the tyre barriers before continuing his running just before lunch.

Development driver Oliver Turvey is also in action for McLaren, with the Brit currently in seventh place and one spot ahead of Alonso. The other reserve drivers on show – Nikita Mazepin (Force India) and Sean Galael (Toro Rosso) – are P9 and P11 respectively.

World Champion Lewis Hamilton posted the fourth quickest time.

Day 1 timesheet (lunch)

1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:37.768,
2 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:39.270
3 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:39.803
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:40.017
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:40.713
6 Robert Kubica Williams 1:41.296
7 Oliver Turvey McLaren 1:41.914
8 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:41.995
9 Nikita Mazepin Force India 1:42.346
10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:43.286
11 Sean Gelael Toro Rosso 1:45.622

Fernando Alonso Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen McLaren Robert Kubica Williams

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