All eyes on Ferrari at start of new Formula One season

By Volker Gundrum Mar 15, 2007, 14:23 GMT

Melbourne - Ferrari head into the opening race weekend of the 2007 Formula One season without the now retired Michael Schumacher but with high hopes that the new driver pairing of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa can pick up where the German left off.

Raikkonen is joint favourite alongside defending champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren-Mercedes to take the drivers' title while Ferrari are odds-on to take the constructors' crown.

Ferrari have put in some strong performances in pre-season testing and it seems the favourite's tag is well deserved as the Italian marque appears ahead of its rivals heading into the opening race weekend.

'I think it's normal when you are quick all the time, and I think the winter tests have been very good for us, improving every few days of testing we were stronger and stronger, right up to the last day in Bahrain,' said Massa at a press conference in Melbourne Thursday.

The Brazilian finished third in last year's championship with Ferrari and has clocked faster times than new team-mate Raikkonen on a regular basis in pre-season testing but admits the real test begins now.

'Testing is testing, racing is racing and now is the time that really counts, so hopefully we can remain in the same direction, especially now, starting the first race,' he said.

'I think for sure Kimi is very quick and a great driver and so I expect him to be tough in terms of competition, which I am pretty sure he will be.'

Alonso, meanwhile, seems to have settled well into his new team following his move from Renault where won the last two drivers' titles.

'At McLaren, I have found a great atmosphere, the people are really very focused on the target to come back with success and to regain the dominant position in Formula One,' said the Spaniard.

'They have improved and developed the car a lot compared to last year. They work day and night and I think we arrive here in Australia with a really competitive car and I think we can fight for victory. I feel really really happy with the move and really confident for the championship.'

With the withdrawal of Michelin from F1, Bridgestone will be the sole tyre supplier this season and Alonso admitted it hadn't been easy to adapt.

'I think there's a big difference in the cars now with the new tyres,' he said.

'I think all the Michelin drivers, including me, have been used to them and we accommodate our driving style to suit the Michelin tyres and I think new drivers who have come in this year have a big advantage because they don't have past experience of Michelin tyres, so they don't need to change their mind set.'

Alonso, who won last year's race at Albert Park after starting from third on the grid, added that although Ferrari have been strongest in testing he still felt this year's championship could prove to be one of the most open in years.

'Ferrari has been the strongest, especially the last part of the winter, but last year we saw in some tests that Ferrari was very very quick in August, September and then we arrived at races and everything was really really close between all of us,' he said.

While most commentators expect Ferrari, McLaren and Renault to be the main teams battling it out for honours this year, BMW-Sauber are hoping to close the gap on the big three despite suffering reliability problems during pre-season testing.

'Definitely the winter was quite difficult for us, but in Bahrain we have finished race distance simulations with both cars so there is some room and possibility that reliability will be good. So the team is confident so I am also confident,' said driver BMW's Polish driver Robert Kubica.

'I think we have shown quite good pace and if the car is working we can fight for quite good lap times and make a good pace on long runs so we will see how we will be tomorrow and after tomorrow and then everything will be more clear.'