More misery for Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen became the first victim of Formula One’s new qualifying system in Bahrain today.

He suffered a suspension and rear wing failure at high speed, pitching him into a spin which almost resulted in a roll as his stricken car bounced over his trailing tyre.

He was condemned to a lowly starting slot thanks to a new knockout qualifying system, which made its debut today.

The six slowest cars are eliminated after each of two 15-minute sessions before a top-10 shoot-out determined the front of the grid.

As Raikkonen had yet to set a lap time, and his McLaren was too damaged to resume the short session, he is destined to start last.

The session was red-flagged but a seven-minute delay was insufficient time for McLaren to repair the extensive suspension and body work damage.

Failures resulting in a lowly starting spot are a familiar problem for the Finn, who suffered several 10-place penalties last season due to engine changes.