Blog: Kimi Raikkonen - The Man On Form At Shanghai
Oct 05, 2007
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen was fastest in Friday’s practice for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.
Raikkonen edged out Alonso by a mere 0.006 seconds with his late run.
The Finn returned the best time in the morning session but stood at fifth for most of the second before displacing McLaren’s Fernando Alonso by just 0.006 seconds.
Raikkonen’s team-mate Felipe Massa was third fastest, and within 0.023 seconds of the one minute, 36.607 seconds clocked by his fellow Ferrari driver. CNN.com
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Kimi Raikkonen, now the only Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver with a chance of taking the Drivers’ title - albeit a slim one - seems to be the man on form, at least purely in terms of lap times here at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The Finn topped the time sheets at the end of both of today’s ninety minute sessions. As usual, on such a long track and on one which sees very little race action apart from this event and the MotoGP race, the track was very green in the first session of the day, providing little grip. However, gradually, as more laps were completed and it rubbered-in, the situation improved, with Kimi’s best afternoon time being around half a second quicker than he managed in the morning. DueMotori
Alonso’s McLaren team-mate Hamilton could clinch the drivers’ title in Shanghai this weekend.
Hamilton has a 12-point lead over Alonso after being cleared of alleged erratic driving in Japan.
After pipping Alonso in the morning practice session, Raikkonen left it until the very end of the afternoon run to again overcome the Spaniard by the narrowest of margins.
Raikkonen dropped to fifth before pulling out an impressive final burst, with barely two minutes remaining. BBC
