In Barcelona, Spain yesterday, soon to be world champion Kimi Raikkonen made his on-track debut in the McLaren-Mercedes team's new MP4-21.

Although freezing temperatures and foggy conditions were far less than ideal, Kimi and Co. had a productive day, initially turning in a short run of four laps followed by a few longer stints.  After a minor oil leak in the gearbox forced the team to take a early-afternoon hiatus, the problem was repaired and Kimi returned to testing, where he logged over 300km on the day.

Here's what Kimi had to say about the run: "It is really good to be back testing and it is great to see what the team have done with the new car. Because it was my first day in the MP4-21, most of the time was spent with me getting used to it and then starting to look at different set-ups. My first impression of the car is positive, but I will need more track time to find out how great the potential really is. Also we could not run all morning because of the cold weather, but even so we put in a good number of laps and drove over 300km."

For more info on Kimi's first day of testing, check out the full press release below.


OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


F1 Test: Barcelona, Day 4

Barcelona, Jan 26, 2006

Kimi's debut with the car was the fourth day of running with the MP4-21, and the Finn added over 300km to the car as he completed 65 laps at the Spanish circuit. His quickest time of the day, a 1m17.739, put Kimi in twelfth place on the timesheets.

The cold and foggy weather conditions continued, with track temperatures not reaching above zero until after 09:00, and as a result following an installation lap shortly after 09:00 the Finn spent just under two hours in the garage before returning to the track at 10:52. Following another short run of 4 laps, Kimi began more longer stints. A minor oil leak in the gearbox was detected early afternoon, which was repaired by the test team and Kimi returned to the track to continue his programme.

Pedro de la Rosa returned to testing duties at the Circuit de Catalunya, following his shakedown with MP4-21 on Monday of this week. Pedro was driving the interim MP4-20, and his work continued to focus on Michelin tyre evaluation. He covered 47 laps and 220km during the day, setting a time of 1m18.256. During the course of the afternoon, the engine in Pedro's car was changed, as it had reached the end of its lifecycle.

KIMI RAIKKONEN

"It is really good to be back testing and it is great to see what the team have done with the new car. Because it was my first day in the MP4-21, most of the time was spent with me getting used to it and then starting to look at different set-ups. My first impression of the car is positive, but I will need more track time to find out how great the potential really is. Also we could not run all morning because of the cold weather, but even so we put in a good number of laps and drove over 300km."

Kimi and Pedro will continue at the Circuit de Catalunya tomorrow, the final day of the test in Barcelona for the team.

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