Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen set the pace in Friday’s practice for the European Grand Prix as drivers got their first racing experience on the new Valencia street circuit.
The Finnish world champion had a best lap of one minute, 39.477 seconds on the 5.4km course in the afternoon session to narrowly edge Renault driver Fernando Alonso, who was second in 1:39.497. Honda’s Jenson Button was third with 1:39.546, while Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and overall leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren rounded out the top five.
“Today, our weekend got off to a good start, but obviously it is far too early to say where we are compared to the opposition,” Raikkonen said. “The setup we have found today is not bad, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.”
Hamilton leads the standings with 62 points, five ahead of Raikkonen and eight in front of Massa.
Several drivers struggled on the unfamiliar circuit on Friday, with Massa and Nelson Piquet Jr among those that veered off the track. Nico Rosberg spun around in his Williams when going through a turn and narrowly avoided crashing into Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
“The first day was difficult for everybody, especially to get the braking points,” said Renault driver Alonso, who has struggled this season and sits eighth in the standings with just 18 points.
Alonso was later fined 10,000 euros (US$14,800) for crossing the white line that marks the entry into the pit lane. Red Bull’s David Coulthard was also fined 2,200 euros for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane, while Hamilton was fined 5,000 euros for turning up three minutes late for an official press conference on Thursday.
The drivers had a final practice session yesterday before the afternoon qualifier to decide pole position for today’s race.
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