F1 testing midday report: Kimi Raikkonen and Alfa Romeo focus on long-run pace. F1 testing midday report: Kimi Raikkonen and Alfa Romeo focus on long-run pace .

Alfa Romeo Racing have had a relatively quiet Wednesday, while in the final stages of the morning session Kimi Raikkonen posted the team’s best lap of the day so far, a 1:19.194. That stint also moved the Finn beyond 30 laps for the opening four hours, as Kimi eventually completed 43 laps so far.

However, as reported by leading German automobile magazine Auto motor und sport, Alfa Romeo team boss Frédéric Vasseur confirmed that the Alfa were focusing on long-run pace, while the complete race simulations will be done on Thursday and Friday: “At the moment we do long runs, but refuel in between times.” – Frédéric Vasseur explained. Considering that information, Kimi Raikkonen’s lap times from the morning session are more than respectable.

The Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat ended the morning fifth ahead of Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez. The trio were separated by just 0.142 seconds in the middle of the pack. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz set the fastest time of Formula 1 pre-season testing yet. Running will resume at 14:00 local time.

Pos	Driver		Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Carlos Sainz		McLaren	1m17.144s		56
2	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	1m18.195s	+1.051	40
3	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	1m18.395s	+1.251	69
4	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	1m18.941s	+1.797	75
5	Daniil Kvyat		Toro Rosso	1m19.060s	+1.916	36
6	Kimi Raikkonen		Alfa Romeo	1m19.194s	+2.050	43
7	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	1m19.202s	+2.058	29
8	Robert Kubica		Williams	1m19.367s	+2.223	42
9	Romain Grosjean		Haas	1m19.717s	+2.573	57
10	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	1m22.597s	+5.453	72