In around one month’s time, 18 March to be precise, the new Formula 1 season gets underway in Melbourne and we will finally know which teams and drivers have done the best job in winter testing. At the moment, with just two more tests in Bahrain, it looks as though at Ferrari, we are going well. We have been trying to get as much mileage under our belt as possible and to understand the various new elements in the package. We have made steady progress since the car’s first test and I think this improvement can continue right up to the first race. Like most teams, the car we have been using this winter will still undergo some significant changes before it appears on the grid in Albert Park in Melbourne. At the moment, I am in a positive frame of mind.
Of course, I am concentrating on our own work here at Ferrari, but we all like to keep an eye on what the other teams are doing and at the moment, it is clear that McLaren will be very competitive, BMW seems to have made a step forward and Renault will also be on the pace, although we must wait and see if they are as strong as last year. I would think us and these three teams will be the front runners, at least in this early part of the season.
Before we started winter testing, a lot of people made comments about our new car, saying it looked very different to the others and they were asking if we had got it wrong. But it’s not important what people outside the team say; what is important is what we achieve on track! The new car is the work of the same people who produced the 2006 car, so why should they not be able to do a good job again? They have not forgotten how to design a car in just a few weeks! If the car looks different to last year’s, then it is because we felt that was the way to go. For the moment, the car is working very well.
There are some other differences in the team this year, because we have no Michael (Schumacher) and no Ross (Brawn.) For the moment, I cannot say it has made any difference to the way things are going, because I am working mainly with the test team and they are exactly the same as before, so the working environment is very stable. For sure, we will need to get used to working with some new people coming into the team and we will have to adapt, but for now all is going smoothly. I have the same race engineer as before, Rob Smedley: we get on very well, he is very talented at his job, so I would not change him for any price!
The other important change is that I have a new team-mate. Kimi has a different character and personality to Michael. He does not talk very much and keeps himself to himself. He appears to be very fair and he does not seem to be the type of guy who plays the political game. He is good to work with and I am sure I won’t have any problem with him. The important thing is that he works for the team so that we both have the best car possible. As I said before, we now have just two more test sessions at the Sakhir track in Bahrain, which hopefully will provide us with our first hot weather testing, which is always important particularly in terms of seeing how the tyres operate and how all the cooling system works. It should be an interesting few days when we start running on 22 February."
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