Kimi Raikkonen on Wednesday put a brave face on reigning world champion Fernando Alonso’s shining winter test pace.
The Finn has switched from the Mercedes-powered McLaren team to Ferrari, as the legendary Italian press begin to wonder if Raikkonen, 27, can keep up this year with the F2007.
Spaniard Alonso again set the pace at Valencia on Wednesday, while Kimi fell to just fourth on the time sheets behind two new Renaults.
“I have not been paying attention to what our rivals have been doing,” the Spanish press quoted him as saying, “except for seeing their lap times.”
At Vallelunga and this week in Spain, Raikkonen has struggled to find a dry track to continue his adaptation to a new team and F1 car.
He insisted that it is “too soon” to gauge the 2007 field’s competitiveness and added that he used just a single seat of tyres on Wednesday.
“I need to do some more laps before I can say anything,” Raikkonen said, “but my first sensations (of the car) are good.”
GMMF1
DailyF1News.com
