Raikkonen edges out Hamilton in Bahrain - Sport - Evening Standard
       

Raikkonen edges out Hamilton in Bahrain

Kimi Raikkonen carried his morning speed into the afternoon as he set the pace in today's final free practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, just edging out Lewis Hamilton.

The Finn dominated in the first session alongside Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa and though he left it until late, he once again climbed to the top of the timesheet with a fastest lap time of one minute 33.527seconds.

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Raikkonen only just prevented Hamilton from claiming top spot as the McLaren youngster finished just 0.013secs behind in second place.

Having finished third in the morning the 22-year-old once again led the challenge for his team as world number one Fernando Alonso finished fifth with a time of 1:33.784.

Alonso had led the way midway through the session but was unable to produce a faster lap and slid down the timesheet.

Robert Kubica ensured McLaren and Ferrari did not dominate the top three as he captured third place in his BMS Sauber, while Massa was unable to follow on his solid morning display as he finished fourth.

Williams' Alex Wurz improved on his morning session to take sixth place and Nick Heidfeld rounded off a fine day's practice for BMW Sauber as he took seventh.

Nico Rosberg finished one place higher than he had in the first session in eighth place, while Red Bull's David Coulthard gave himself a real shot in the arm after finishing 20th in the morning as he climbed to ninth place. Toyota's Jarno Trulli completed the top 10.

Jenson Button's early season woes continued as his practice session came to an end with just under 30 minutes of the session remaining.

On his 19th lap Button struggled with his Honda and after coming off briefly he returned to the circuit only for the rear of his car to suddenly shoot out flames, forcing him off the track.

Super Aguri driver Anthony Davidson finished five places higher than he did earlier in the day as he took 13th place.

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