quoteAya Shaker @Aya_Shaker 2 Min. Kimi: "I was on a kerb and got some fairly massive wheelspin. I couldn't catch it anymore and unfortunately it went directly (1/3)
quote into the wall and damaged the car. Things happen so I wouldn't say it's my fault. (2/3)
quote We improved the settings a lot and it's not too bad, but there's a lot of torque in the car." (3/3) #Kimi #F1
quoteKimi Raikkonen says Bahrain F1 test crash not too disruptive
Kimi Raikkonen says Ferrari is still on course with its Formula 1 testing programme, despite crashing heavily at the end of the final day of the second test in Bahrain.
The 2007 world champion lost control of the F14 T on the exit of Turn 4 and speared into the wall, ripping off the left front wheel and causing an early halt to proceedings.
"I was on a kerb and got some fairly massive wheelspin," said Raikkonen. "I couldn't catch it anymore and unfortunately it went directly into the wall and damaged the car.
"Things happen so I wouldn't say it's my fault. We improved the settings a lot and it's not too bad, but there's a lot of torque in the car."
Raikkonen had earlier set the third fastest time on a day when Mercedes dominated the timesheet once again.
The Finn's crash and the telemetry issue he suffered on Friday have limited Ferrari's running and delayed a plan to try a race run with the F14 T.
But Raikkonen does not feel this puts the team at a disadvantage compared to Mercedes, which completed a race run of more than 50 laps with Nico Rosberg at the wheel on day four.
"We always want more laps, but today we didn't have any problems," Raikkonen added.
"Obviously I damaged the car with the crash and there were many red flags, but we did more or less what we wanted to. I don't think it's an issue.
"We could do long runs but the plan was to do something different. In the next test for sure we can do them."
Bahrain F1 test: Nico Rosberg keeps Mercedes ahead as test ends By Ben Anderson Saturday, February 22nd 2014, 14:10 GMT
quote Mercedes led the way for the second consecutive day in Formula 1 testing in Bahrain, as Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of the week while rival Red Bull continued its miserable pre-season.
The three-time grand prix winner became the only driver to break into the 1m33s with a blistering set of short runs on Pirelli's soft tyre in the morning before completing a race run of more than 50 laps in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Red Bull managed just 15 laps with Daniel Ricciardo as the team encountered yet more problems with its troublesome new car.
The team parked the RB10 early with software and mechanical issues and spent much of the afternoon working furiously on the car in the garage.
The other Renault-engined teams also endured a difficult day.
Jean-Eric Vergne completed just 19 laps in the Toro Rosso, while Pastor Maldonado suffered another glut of problems with the Lotus E22, though he did manage 59 laps between issues and the fastest time by a Renault-powered car so far.
Caterham managed nearly 100 laps with Marcus Ericsson yesterday, but an electrical issue restricted the Swede to just four today.
Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi took the repaired car out and managed 17 laps in the final hour.
Bahrain F1 test in pictures
Jenson Button's McLaren-Mercedes went second fastest for the second consecutive day, racking up 66 laps as the Woking squad continued its solid showing in Bahrain.
Of the other Mercedes-engined teams, new Williams signing Felipe Nasr managed nearly 90 laps and went fourth fastest on his F1 driving debut, while Force India's Sergio Perez was sixth quickest on his first day in the VJM07, but had his running curtailed by a gearbox issue after just 19 laps.
Kimi Raikkonen bounced back from a telemetry issue yesterday to log 82 laps for Ferrari and post the third quickest time on Pirelli's soft tyre.
He got within two tenths of Fernando Alonso's best lap on day two, but brought the test to an early halt when he crashed his Ferrari at Turn 4.
Adrian Sutil only managed seven laps after Sauber found a problem with its chassis in the morning, while Marussia encountered engine and fuel problems that restricted Jules Bianchi to just five circuits.
quotePos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m33.283s 89 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m34.957s +1.674s 66 3. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m36.718s +3.435s 82 4. Felipe Nasr Williams-Mercedes 1m37.569s +4.286s 87 5. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m38.707s +5.424s 59 6. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m39.258s +5.975s 19 7. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m39.837s +6.554s 15 8. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m40.472s +7.189s 19 9. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m43.027s +9.744s 17 10. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m45.094s +11.811s 4 11. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari no time 5 12. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari no time 5
The final test will be pivotal for Renault. It doesn't appear they can even run a race distance yet..
I get the feeling Mercedes is the quickest car, currently. McLaren and Ferrari are close behind.
The final test will be huge for Ferrari. It seemed they were focusing mainly on reliability and system checks. And the performance evaluation will be done at the next test, when the 'race spec' parts arrive for the car.
Circuit: Sakhir circuit – 5.412 km Driver: Kimi Raikkonen Car: Ferrari F14 T Weather: air temperature 20/26°C, track temperature 22/36 °C. Sunny. Laps/Kms completed: 82/443 Best time: 1:36.718
This was the final day of the second pre-season test session for Scuderia Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen again at the wheel of the F14 T. It was a productive day and the team managed to get through all of its planned technical programme, despite the fact that the F14 T hit the barriers when there were five minutes remaining, which brought the test to a premature end.
This morning, the work focussed on car set-up, an evaluation of the Medium and Soft tyres and on fine tuning the start procedure. In the afternoon, there was aerodynamic work on the agenda, as well as some long runs.
Kimi completed 82 laps, the quickest in a time of 1.36.718. Over the four days at Sakhir, the F14 T did a total of 287 laps, equivalent to 1,553 kilometres.
“We have managed to improve some things compared to Jerez and we continue to understand more about the behaviour of the car,” Kimi said to www.ferrari.com. “We tried various solutions to try and be as well prepared as possible for next week’s test and for the start of the season. Hitting the barrier? I spun on the kerb at the exit of turn 4, these things can happen! Luckily, it was right at the end of the day, I’m only sorry because it means the team now has more work to do.”
Scuderia Ferrari and the ten other Formula 1 teams will take part in the third and final test prior to the start of the season, beginning on 27 February, again at the Sakhir circuit.
quoteFerrari's Kimi Raikkonen accepts the blame for Day Four crash in Bahrain Finn hit the barriers during final minutes of running
Kimi Raikkonen admitted it was his fault he spun into the barriers during the final minutes of Day Four the first Bahrain test.
The Finn ensured the four days of running finished under a red flag after he caused significant damage to the front of the F14 T.
"I spun, hit the wall and that is it," the Finn told the media when asked what had happened. "I spun on the kerb at the exit of turn 4, these things can happen! Luckily, it was right at the end of the day, I'm only sorry because it means the team now has more work to do."
Raikkonen's accident came on his 82nd lap of the day and, with Ferrari currently sitting third in the pre-season mileage charts, the Finn admits he is pleased with how the Scuderia's preparations are progressing.
"I think they are not too bad really," he added. "Obviously there are a lot of things to do still, but I can only look at our own situation - we don't know what the others are doing and are not really interested in that at present.
"We will see exactly where we are at the first race. The reliability aspect has been okay for us, but speed wise I don't know where we are, but we will keep doing our work and hopefully find out we are more or less where we should be. I think it is pretty okay right now, but for sure we want to improve things and there is still a long way to go before the season.
"You always want more laps, but we didn't have any problems and then I damaged the car with the crash. There were a lot of red flags, but we did more or less what we wanted to do. We could do long runs, but the plan was to do something else."
The 34-year-old missed the final two races of the 2013 season to have surgery on a long-standing back injury - reported to have been caused by a testing accident in 2001 for Sauber - but the Finn insists he is now fighting fit once more.
"It has been okay since I had the operation and hopefully it stays like that," he said. "With these things you never know, it has been there for a long time and some days it is good and the next day it might not be. It is one of those things, but it has been much, much better."