Raikkonen upbeat after test

Eurosport - Wed, 16 Jan 18:22:00 2008

Kimi Raikkonen has warned his title rivals Ferrari are firmly on track to deliver a championship-defending car.

In the first official test of the new year at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain, Raikkonen and Ferrari already appear strong.

Traditionally, there is a certain degree of posturing throughout a test and it can be hard to gauge the true level of any car.

But a straight-talking Raikkonen could not be happier with what he has seen so far from his Ferrari ahead of the forthcoming season.

Following the final day of the three-day test in Jerez, in which Raikkonen was eighth-quickest behind the Toyota of Timo Glock, he said: "Overall we're happy with how everything has gone.

"The first impression is good. There is a good feeling in the car, but we can improve in many areas. There's certainly more to come.

"Although the car already feels good, this is not the final spec. We're getting more new parts, and once we get the final car, it's going to be very good.

"We will obviously have to wait to see what the others are doing, but I think we are already in a good position.

"We've improved on the areas we wanted to from last year, and so far everything is running well. Hopefully we will keep going in that direction.

"As for winning the title again, you never know what is going to happen, but we should have a good package, so at least we'll have a chance."

Ferrari and McLaren are again expected to be out in front, while it remains to be seen what Fernando Alonso can achieve following his return to Renault.

The French marque were not the force last year as in the previous two seasons when Alonso and the team won back-to-back titles prior to his ill-fated defection to McLaren.

Although Alonso does not take delivery of the new Renault until the end of this month, Raikkonen is sceptical the Spaniard will be amongst the frontrunners this season.

"We'll see what happens in the races," added the Finn, who won his first F1 title in dramatic circumstances in the final race of last season.

"I don't think they (Renault) have improved so much suddenly after last season with the old car, but let's wait and see."