Whilst team-mate
Felipe Massa set the pace – as has become his wont around the Istanbul Park circuit in recent years –
Kimi Raikkonen endured a rather less-than-perfect day during opening practice for this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix.
The world championship leader – bidding to extend his current nine-point advantage in the drivers' standings on the back of two victories and a runner-up position from the last three races – encountered a gearbox issue in the morning, restricting him to just three laps on-track. The knock-on effect in the afternoon – even if he did narrowly lap quickest in the second 90-minute session – left him in a frustrated third place at the close.
“Not the best of Fridays,” the Finn concluded. “This morning, I only managed one timed lap before a gearbox problem meant I could not go out for the rest of the session. In the afternoon, I struggled a bit to find the right settings on the car.
“One of the main problems today was getting the tyres up to the correct temperature, but I think that tomorrow – partly as the grip level on the track improves and partly as we work to improve the set-up – it will be a different situation. We lost valuable time this morning, but we still have enough data to analyse so we can be ready to tackle the rest of the weekend.”
Massa, for his part, enjoyed a much-more trouble-free run, consistently on the pace and looking in fine form to make it three consecutive triumphs in Istanbul.
“Overall, this was a positive day,” the Brazilian acknowledged. “The track is very fast, even if it's still a bit dirty, which meant it was quite easy to make mistakes. The low temperatures mean it is difficult to get the most out of the tyres on a first timed lap, especially on the harder ones.
