Ferrari fastest, Mercedes churns out miles as F1 tests end

MONTMELO, Spain (AP) Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari set the pace on the final session of Formula One preseason testing Friday, while Mercedes ran the most laps over the eight days at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Raikkonen's lap of 1 minute, 17.221 seconds came within 0.039 seconds of the unofficial track record set by Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel the previous day.

Both times were set on the fast ''hypersoft'' tires introduced this season. The track was also resurfaced in January, hindering comparisons to previous times. Times set in testing are not considered official.

Defending champion Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas focused on running race simulations for a second straight day. Mercedes ended preseason testing with a total of 1037 laps, the most of any team.

Ferrari also showed good reliability, running 925 laps in total.

The season starts with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 25.