Raikkonen fastest for Alfa on the third day of F1 testing

The former Ferrari driver became the first driver of the week to display a time of less than 1m18 with a short run on C4 tires marked in red about half an hour before lunch.

Until then, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari had comfortably paved the way. While Vettel was on the track and improving at the same time as Raikkonen, his turn in the harder C3 tire mix was not up to what Raikkonen had managed to handle.

The difference in performance between the tires was blatant when both drivers completed a second lap of attack. Raikkonen lost 1.4 seconds on the softer rubber, while Vettel was only 0.1 seconds slower than its previous record.

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The finish at the top of Raikkonen allowed Nico Hulkenberg to take third place after taking second place behind Vettel an hour earlier.

Renault is today without using its DRS, due to the failure of Daniel Ricciardo on Tuesday morning. The flap of his rear wing broke off at high speed in the main straight and sent Ricciardo to corner 1..

While Raikkonen and Vettel had the best times, Max Verstappen also went faster, finishing fourth with a yellow C3 tire.

Shortly before lunch, he was fifth in fifth place, when Daniil Kvyat beat Red Bull in the Toro Rosso with a C3 lap.

The top six was completed by Pietro Fittipaldi in Haas, which caused the only red flag of the morning when his car stopped near the turn 9.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was seventh for McLaren, finishing only 27 laps and the team made up for his late start. He missed the first two hours of racing because he "prepared the car after a few overnight changes".

McLaren's day was not without drama: an aerodynamic piece fell out of the car on one of Sainz's descents, then just before lunch he turned back to turn 13 to finish in the gravel but managed to get out without it. assistance.

There was also an action in the Williams garage after the team's 2019 car arrived tonight, while George Russell was making a saddle adjustment in anticipation of his recovery after lunch at FW42.

Among the cars in the race, Valtteri Bottas was the slowest of the Mercedes, but the team played the most rounds with anyone with 88.

Results of the session