Barcelona F1 test: Raikkonen tops wet final test morning

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen topped the final morning of the first Barcelona Formula 1 pre-season test, as Pirelli's new wet and intermediate tyres ran on an artificially soaked track.

Nico Hulkenberg, Renault Sport F1 Team RS17

After being doused by several water trucks, the track only remained wet enough for the full wet tyre for the first hour or so of running, and few drivers took the opportunity to get to grips with the revised rubber in the conditions.

Raikkonen and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen were among those to sample it, with the pair both setting best times in the 1m40s range.

Verstappen made the switch to intermediate tyres early in the second hour, and was first to break through the 1m30s barrier later in the morning.

Raikkonen was first to venture out on track on slick tyres with a little over an hour to go, and the Finn duly smashed Verstappen's time with a 1m25.557s on softs.

The Ferrari driver was later knocked off the top spot by the Force India of Sergio Perez, but Raikkonen regained the advantage later on, and ended up with a best time of 1m22.305s.

Romain Grosjean made a late appearance on the supersofts to jump up to second with a 1m22.739s, while McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne did likewise to go third on a 1m23.918s.

Those last-second improvements pushed down Verstappen, who set his best time with mediums, to fourth, followed by Perez and his former teammate Nico Hulkenberg (Renault).

With Williams skipping Thursday's action following Lance Stroll's crash on Wednesday, Antonio Giovinazzi (Sauber) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) completed the timesheets, the latter only appearing in the final moments after teammate Lewis Hamilton sat out the morning.

The three-time world champion made it clear on Wednesday he was not eager to drive in the wet, and Mercedes reported than an electrical fault with his W08 made it impossible for him to go out.

Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat also lost the chance to drive in the morning because the team was forced to replace the STR12's Renault power unit, but the Russian will share the afternoon session with teammate Carlos Sainz.

The afternoon session will also begin in wet conditions, with the Barcelona track to be soaked once again during the lunch break.

	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:22.305		45
2	R. Grosjean	Haas	1:22.739	0.434	49
3	S. Vandoorne	McLaren	1:23.918	1.613	35
4	M. Verstappen	Red Bull	1:23.920	1.615	43
5	S. Perez	Force India	1:24.893	2.588	25
6	N. Hulkenberg	Renault	1:24.974	2.669	51
7	A. Giovinazzi	Sauber	1:25.037	2.732	37
8	V. Bottas	Mercedes	1:36.512	4.207	9
9	D. Kvyat	Toro Rosso			1