Iceman hots up at Valencia

By Karl King
February 18 2006

Kimi Raikkonen set the track alight at the Spanish Valencia circit today, the Iceman put in an impressive lap - the first driver to break the 1m10s barrier.

Raikkonen absolutely blitzed his rivals, with Giancarlo Fisichella the closest driver to him, just under a second behind. Kimi completed 80 laps today, and the following will be music to any McLaren fan's ears; he had no major glitches!

David Coulthard was the sole Red Bull driver present today, the Brit managed third, with a time just a few thousandths quicker than Renault's Heikki Kovalainen in fourth.

McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa was back behind the wheel of the MP4-21 today. The Spaniard completed a substantial 113 laps, and rounded off the front runners. The MP4-21 has now run over 5100kms after it's first shakedown on the 23rd January.

The bottom of the time sheets were occupied again by the three Midland drivers. All more than 3 seconds off the pace of Raikkonen, Albers and Sutil had to make do with last year's EJ15B. Both were quickers than Tiago Montiero, who was 3.836s off the leading pace in his M16.

1. K. Raikkonen - McLaren Mercedes MP4/21 - 1'09"976 (+0"000) - 80 laps
2. G. Fisichella - Renault R26 - 1'10"918 (+0"942) - 83 laps
3. D. Coulthard - Red Bull Ferrari RB2 - 1'11"068 (+1"092) - 34 laps
4. H. Kovalainen - Renault R26 - 1'11"074 (+1"098) - 161 laps
5. P. de la Rosa - McLaren Mercedes MP4/21 - 1'11"262 (+1"286) - 113 laps
6. C. Albers – MF1 Racing EJ15B - 1'13"062 (+3"086) - 52 laps
7. A. Sutil – MF1 Racing EJ15B - 1'13"513 (+3"537) - 58 laps
8. T. Monteiro – MF1 Racing M16 - 1'13"812 (+3"836) - 55 laps