Raikkonen fastest as Kubica stars in Abu Dhabi

Editor

The first day of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi is in the books with Kimi Raikkonen topping the timesheets and Robert Kubica among the drivers to rack up 100 laps at the Yas Marina circuit.

Raikkonen set a best time of 1:37.768 on the new hypersoft tyres – two steps softer than the 2017 ultrasofts – but it was over a second shy of Valtteri Bottas track record in Q3 on Sunday with the Ferrari man having plenty of fuel on board.

Daniel Ricciardo narrowed the gap to within three tenths after the lunch break, completing 109 laps in the process. World Champion Lewis Hamilton improved to P3 as part of a mammoth 136-lap run.

Haas' Romain Grosjean, the lap-count leader with 137, finished 1.5 seconds off the pace in P4 and Lance Stroll took P5 in the Williams after taking over duties from Kubica in the final couple of hours.

Kubica, who ended the day ninth quickest, stayed on the soft tyre throughout the day and also reached the 100-lap mark via a mixture of short and long runs.

The Pole and Williams were both happy with the day's work and he will return to the car on Wednesday for what is believed to be a shorter two-hour stint on quicker tyres.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso's running was disrupted by a crash into the tyre barrier but he made up for lost time by accumulating 115 laps with a best time of 1:39.762, good enough for P6.

McLaren were able to run two cars given that their test in Brazil was cancelled, so reserve driver Oliver Turvey collected another 105 laps' worth of data and propped up the timesheet in P12.

Nico Hulkenberg came back to the garage in P7, with development drivers Nikita Mazepin (Force India) and Sean Gelael (Toro Rosso) – the latter causing a late red flag because of a minor crash – completing the top 10 alongside Kubica.

Marcus Ericsson, who has seemingly survived the chop at Sauber, was P11.

1       Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1'37"768        99 laps
2       Daniel Ricciardo     Red Bull    1'38"066     00"298    109
3       Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes    1'38"551     00"783    136
4       Romain Grosjean     Haas    1'39"270     01"502    137
5       Lance Stroll    Williams    1'39"580     01"812    29
6       Fernando Alonso    McLaren    1'39"762     01"994    115
7       Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1'39"803     02"035    85
8       Nikita Mazepin    Force India    1'39"959     02"191    90
9       Robert Kubica    Williams    1'41"296     03"528    100
10       Sean Gelael    Toro Rosso    1'41"428     03"660    117
11       Marcus Ericsson     Sauber    1'41"681     03"913    97
12       Oliver Turvey    McLaren    1'41"914     04"146    105