Kovalainen and Raikkonen out first as F1 pre-season testing starts

Feb 7, 2012, 9:24 GMT

Jerez, Spain - Heikki Kovalianen was the first one out and returning ex-world champion Kimi Raikkonen followed shortly afterwards as pre-season testing for the 2012 Formula One season started on Tuesday.

The two Finns were to be followed by other teams and drivers, including Mark Webber for world champions Red Bull, later in the day on the 4.42km course in southern Spain.

Raikkonen won the title in 2007 for Ferrari and is now back in the sport from a two-year hiatus with Lotus, the former Renault team.

He is one of six world championships for the 2012 campaign, the others being title holder Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton (both McLaren).

The Jerez tests run over four days and each team is allowed to use only one car. Two further testing rounds follow ahead of the March 18 season-opener in Australia.

Vettel will make his first drives in the RB8 on Thursday and Friday. Schumacher and his team-mate Nico Rosberg will have to wait for the second tests from February 21 onwards in Barcelona to have their new car available.

The opening day of testing also saw the rollout of the new Williams for Bruno Senna and Paolo Maldonado. Like all other cars, apart from McLaren who chose an elegant curved version, the FW34 has a stepped nose.