 A bullish Kimi Raikkonen has warned Ferrari's rivals that he and the
Italian team are in much better shape for the rest of the season after
making a set-up breakthrough in testing at Barcelona this week.
Despite crashing in the rain on Tuesday afternoon, Raikkonen has
dominated the testing times so far this week and he believes
modifications to the F2007 have increased its overall speed and made
him much more confident with its handling...
{mos_sb_discuss:1}
"We've learned a lot," said Raikkonen after returning to the pits
following his small off at Turn 3, where he just kissed the tyre
barriers without suffering any major damage.
"You never know what the others are doing, but for the race we are
more confident. The car feels very good here, so let's wait and see
what happens."
Raikkonen is most happy with his own personal confidence in the car,
having faced a stronger than expected challenge from teammate Felipe
Massa in the first three races of the year.
"I found a better set-up for myself and the car seems to be handling
the way I want now," said Raikkonen. "I think we are in a much stronger
position now.
"(The championship) started three races ago, but the points are very
close and nothing has been lost so far. It is important to have good
races now. We have a good package, I have got a better setup and I am
much happier than in the first three races. I think it is good."
Raikkonen confessed that he had not been happy with certain
characteristics of the car in the first races of the campaign, and knew
that only proper testing would help him overcome the issues.
"The car was good and getting better, but it was never quite right,"
he said. "I was not happy after qualifying in Melbourne and the same in
Malaysia. We knew the problem but we could not do anything between the
races. But finally we found something, which is definitely better for
me."
Raikkonen believes the improvements should help keep the team ahead
of McLaren at the Spanish Grand Prix - although he is unsure exactly
how much of an advantage they currently have.
"I think we have improved a lot since the last race, and we
understand the car more. That is the main thing. Sure we want to win
the race and we will see what we can do, but I am now much happier
going into the race than the last couple of events
"We have found something which is definitely much better for me. I think we can use the full potential of the car now."
source: autosport.com
|
