F1: Barcelona test � day one: 30 April.

[Rory Phoulorie]

Kimi Raikkonen set the pace on the opening day of testing in Barcelona as all eleven teams kicked off preparations for the start of the European Formula 1 season.

Raikkonen, who currently shares the championship lead with McLaren duo Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton after the three opening �fly away' races, set a best time of 1min 21.195secs from 98 laps of the Catalunya circuit although his closest rivals proved to be something of a surprise as Takuma Sato slotted into second for Super Aguri � just seven tenths of a second off the Finn's pace.

Sato spent the day working on a series of new parts on the SA07, which included a number of new aerodynamic parts and an upgraded gearbox � posting a best time 1min 21.858secs from his 99 laps.

Sato and Super Aguri weren't the only team near the front of the pack to run with new aero parts in place as McLaren debuted a new look front wing on the MP4-22 of Pedro de la Rosa, which included an element sitting above the front nose of the car.



The front wing was among a series of new aerodynamic parts introduced after a straight line test in Menorca, with de la Rosa also completing set up work ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix and continuing with work focused on cooling and systems reliability. His best time of 1min 21.906secs was good enough for third place, just ahead of the lone Toyota in the hands of Ralf Schumacher.

Schumacher spent the day looking at set-up options and differential settings in an effort to solve the front end problems encountered during the opening races of the season. Although he had the quickest time at the end of the day, the lap in question was set after missing the chicane, with his best �complete' lap good enough for fourth.

�In general it was a successful day and we made it through everything that we had planned,� he said. �I've had some problems with the front end at the last couple of races in low grip conditions but it seems to be better here.

�We made quite a few changes in the set-up and after that I was able to brake and turn in the way that I'm used to. So that helps me and we got along quite well with the car today. My fastest lap time came when I went through the chicane but we were still not far from the top so it has been a good test. Obviously we will have to wait and see how it is at the race itself next week, but I'm looking forward to it.�

Schumacher himself was only just ahead of Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber as the German concentrated on set-up work on the F1.07 for the opening race of the European season at the Catalan circuit next week. Fresh from his demonstration run on the famed Nurburgring Nordschleife with last season's F1.06, the German was back in more familiar surroundings for a modern F1 machine as he wracked up 74 laps to post a best time of 1min 22.114secs.

Behind the closely matched cars at the front, Rubens Barrichello was half a second further back in sixth with Renault test driver Nelson Piquet Jr seventh. Barrichello and Piquet were the two busiest drivers in the day, with Honda ace Barrichello completing 132 laps and Piquet totting up just seven fewer as he completed a series of aerodynamic tests on his return to the R27.

�I think that we've recorded interesting data for the engineers who will now get down to analysing them,� the young Brazilian enthused. �We did a lot of running today, from 09:00 to 18:00 non-stop. I covered a large number of laps and it's almost 2 months since I last drove the car, so it wasn't the most restful of days for me! But it's good to be back behind the wheel again.�

Piquet was followed by Tonio Liuzzi in eighth for Toro Rosso while David Coulthard found himself behind Red Bulls junior team as he posted the ninth quickest time � the two Red Bull backed drivers split by little more than two tenths of a second.

The top ten was rounded out by Adrian Valles as Spyker fielded two drivers sharing one car. Valles completed 44 laps during the afternoon before his time at the wheel was brought to an early end by a heavy shunt at turn three. Although the Spaniard was uninjured, it leaves the team with plenty of work to do overnight to allow race driver Adrian Sutil to take over testing duties.

�This afternoon we continued the work on hydraulics and tyres and I think we made some progress,� he said. �The lap times were good, considering the tyres were old, and we could do some pretty consistent times.

�Of course I am not happy about the accident - I don't know what happened in turn one; the car moved and then I thought I'd take it easy to get to the garage, but then the car came away in turn three. Overall though I think we can be reasonably positive; I was really comfortable until the lap before the crash, and enjoyed it without making any mistakes.�

Williams test driver Kazuki Nakajima was eleventh quickest having also seen his session end early with an off at turn nine, while Giedo van der Garde rounded out the twelve drivers to take to track, completing 37 laps during the morning as he focussed on evaluating hydraulic systems and the hard and medium Bridgestone Potenza tyres before handing the car over to Valles for the afternoon session.

Testing continues tomorrow.

Testing times (30 April) - Barcelona:

1. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 21.195secs 98 laps
2. Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1min 21.858secs 99 laps
3. Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1min 21.906secs 101 laps
4. Ralf Schumacher Toyota-Toyota 1min 21.983secs 92 laps
5. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1min 22.114secs 74 laps
6. Rubens Barrichello Honda-Honda 1min 22.655secs 132 laps
7. Nelson Piquet Jr Renault-Renault 1min 22.763secs 125 laps
8. Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 22.771secs 56 laps
9. David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1min 22.973secs 47 laps
10. Adrian Valles Spyker-Ferrari 1min 23.699secs 44 laps
11. Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1min 24.248secs 43 laps
12. Giedo van der Garde Spyker-Ferrari 1min 24.997secs 37 laps

all times unofficial � courtesy McLaren

Track/weather conditions: Clear sunshine and warm temperatures. Track temperature, 45.6�c / Ambient temperature, 23.7�C


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