Raikkonen quickest at Silverstone test

Kimi Raikkonen topped the times on the final day of Formula 1’s in-season test at Silverstone.

The Finn clocked a personal best 1:30.655s in the final hour of running as the Northamptonshire circuit began to dry following a rain shower.

Raikkonen’s effort was 0.6s faster then the previous day’s best posted by McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.

It was also 0.2s faster than his best time in qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

“We’ve been doing our normal testing work, trying different things,” said Raikkonen, who chalked up 103 laps during the day.

“We always expect more as a team in terms of results. That’s Ferrari: we want to win and keep working. Then we will see what happens.

“We believe we can still win and we don’t want to give up, but improve.”

Mercedes’ Esteban Ocon had led much of the running before Raikkonen’s late lap.

The Brackley squad’s development driver covered the most mileage as he notched up 139 laps, ending 0.5s adrift of the 2007 world champion.

Red Bull enjoyed a much stronger showing as junior driver Pierre Gasly clocked the third fastest time on soft compound rubber.

Gasly had been sidelined for much of yesterday’s session with an electronics issue on his RB12.

Force India’s Nikita Mazepin was fourth after posting his best time on the super-soft tyre.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne was fifth ahead of Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Santino Ferrucci (Haas F1) and Renault’s Jolyon Palmer.

Toro Rosso’s Sergio Sette Camara and Manor’s Jordan King rounded out the top 10.

Pascal Wehrlein was the last of the timed runners as he continued development on Pirelli’s 2017 compounds.

Result: Formula 1 Silverstone Test Day 2

Position	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:30.665s	–	103
2	Esteban Ocon	Mercedes	1:31.212s	+0.547s	139
3	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull/Renault	1:31.429s	+0.764s	103
4	Nikita Mazepin	Force India/Mercedes	1:31.561s	+0.896s	69
5	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren/Honda	1:31.764s	+1.099s	114
6	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes	1:32.423s	+1.758s	98
7	Santino Ferrucci	Haas/Ferrari	1:33.141s	+2.476s	107
8	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:33.309s	+2.644s	98
9	Sergio Sette Camara	Toro Rosso/Ferrari	1:34.040s	+3.375s	82
10	Jordan King	Manor/Mercedes	1:35.060s	+4.395s	70
11	Pascal Wehrlein	Mercedes	1:36.162s	+5.497s	128