Raikkonen tests GP3 car

Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen took time out from his summer break on Friday as he got behind the wheel of a GP3 car in Spain. The test, part of an official GP3 development programme in preparation for the junior single-seater series’ 2014 season, was made possible thanks to Raikkonen's relationship with GP3 team Koiranen GP.

“I wanted to test the GP3/13 because my friend Afa Heikkinen has a team in this series and I have been closely following their progress and results since the beginning of the season,” the Finn explained to the official GP3 Series website after completing 58 laps of Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

“I was curious to see how the car handled and it was actually fun to drive. There were a few issues regarding its behaviour, but we managed to solve most of them. The GP3/13 is a very good tool for young drivers, especially when you have to learn about tyre management like we have in F1.”

The purpose of the test was to gauge the performance of the car on different tyre compounds and to conduct a development programme requested by GP3 and Pirelli, as well as to find technical solutions to offer more overtaking possibilities to the drivers for the 2014 races.

“We are extremely pleased to have had the opportunity to work with Kimi today,” added GP3 Series technical director Didier Perrin. “His experience and feedback were invaluable and they gave us a better understanding of what needs to be done in order to make our car a better tool in overtaking opportunities for next season. He has confirmed all our hypotheses, and together we could start working on two development directions for the end-of-season testing."

Raikkonen returns to Formula One action next Friday in opening practice for the 2013 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.