Before jetting out of Bahrain last week, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen gave little away amid suggestions that he was surprisingly outpaced this winter by his teammate Felipe Massa.
“Let’s see what happens in Melbourne,” the Finn told reporters. “I think that will be the right place to compare us.”
Asked if 25-year-old Massa had been a tougher challenge than he expected, Raikkonen added: “We haven’t … we’ll see in the races.”
Indeed, former Swiss formula one racer Marc Surer told adrivo.com that he thought Raikkonen’s pre-season pace should not be taken too seriously.
“It was the same thing when he was at McLaren,” said Surer, who contested 87 grands prix in the 80s.
“Kimi never plays all of his cards in the tests.”
Ferrari boss Jean Todt, however, said recently that 25-year-old Massa is “perhaps the most underestimated driver” on today’s grand prix grid.
Like much of the F1 world, Renault chief Flavio Briatore was one of those who admittedly estimated Massa as a “kind of medium” driver in early 2006.
But now tells Reuters: “Give him the right car and he’s terrific.”
