Jerez testing day 1: Raikkonen leads first day of 2012 testing

Raikkonen posted the fastest time in the morning

In the first of a 4-day test session in Jerez, Kimi Raikkonen kicked off the 2012 pre-season testing by topping the timesheets.

The Finn set a 1:19.670 to put his Lotus E2o on top, one tenth of a second ahead of Paul di Resta in the Force India VJM05. Nico Rosberg was 3rd in last year’s Mercedes car.

Red Bull had a slow start to the first day of testing, with fog delaying the arrival of parts for Mark Webber’s RB8. He eventually set 51 laps, finishing 4th. Sister team Toro Rosso were delayed by an oil leak, although Daniel Ricciardo still made it to 5th place.

Michael Schumacher shared the Mercedes with Rosberg, taking 6th ahead of Kamui Kobayashi, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa.

Neither Caterham or Williams got much running of their cars, with Heikki Kovalainen and Pastor Maldonado finishing 10th and 11th. HRT’s Pedro de la Rosa was 0.3 seconds off the Williams in last year’s F111.

Times from Jerez day 1:

1. Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus E20            1:19.670   75 Laps
2. Paul di Resta        Force India VJM05    1:19.772   101 Laps   +0.102
3. Nico Rosberg         Mercedes W02         1:20.219   56 Laps    +0.549
4. Mark Webber          Red Bull RB8         1:20.496   53 Laps    +0.826
5. Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso STR7      1:20.694   57 Laps    +1.024
6. Michael Schumacher   Mercedes W02         1:20.794   42 Laps    +1.124
7. Kamui Kobayashi      Sauber C31           1:21.353   105 Laps   +1.683
8. Jenson Button        McLaren MP4-27       1:21.530   62 Laps    +1.860
9. Felipe Massa         Ferrari F2012        1:22.815   69 Laps    +3.145
10.Heikki Kovalainen    Caterham CT01        1:23.178   28 Laps    +3.508
11.Pastor Maldonado     Williams FW34        1:23.371   25 Laps    +3.701
12.Pedro de la Rosa     HRT F111             1:23.676   44 Laps    +4.006