F1: Raikkonen limited by gearbox issue

A gearbox problem limited Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari's mileage as 2016's second pre-season Formula 1 test began at Barcelona on Tuesday.

Raikkonen's car stopped when he became stuck in eighth gear on the pits straight just after the lunch break. Although Ferrari got him back out later, he could only manage 72 laps – 100 down on Mercedes' tally for the day.

"Obviously a few things could be better at this point but we are in testing and the purpose of testing is to try things and obviously something breaks," Raikkonen told reporters. "We can fix it; there's still time.

"Every year it's the same story – you push, push and push and [if] we have an issue, we plan a fix. I'm not concerned."

Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne has expressed hope that the team will be on the front row at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while Mercedes' Nico Rosberg insisted the Italian team was a "big threat."

Raikkonen said it was currently "pointless to start guessing" how Ferrari compared to Mercedes, which set the pace on Tuesday as it ran soft tires for the first time this year.

"I have no idea what they're doing and they don't know what will happen," he said. "You can see the lap time, there are different tires and different times.

"We have a good feeling. We have made quite good progress over the winter again but is it going to be enough? Who knows? I think we will be more or less where we want to be."

Originally on Autosport.com