French GP - Ferrari - PreviewThe Ferrari team are confident that they have taken a step forward with the F2007 package after a three day test last week at Silverstone. Felipe Massa, third in the standings with 39 points, said that the revised aero package improved the balance
of the car.
Kimi Raikkonen, fourth in the standings with 32 points, said it was a 'perfect week' and that he is now more comfortable with his car.
Heading to Magny Cours, the team will be aiming to secure their first win since the Spanish Grand Prix and close the 35 point deficit to rivals McLaren Mercedes.
Felipe Massa
"When you look back to Canada, maybe we were not quite as quick as the McLarens, but in the race I was ahead of Alonso and maybe I could have finished on the podium, which would have been a good result, even if it had not been possible to win. Our aim there was to get as many points as possible, even if we could not match the pace of our competitor. But what happened there, when I was basically disqualified because of missing a light, which cannot be seen as a dangerous thing, I still find hard to deal with. But let's forget about that now."
"As for Indy, we looked slightly more competitive, if not quite on the pace of our rivals. Finishing on the podium was not a complete disaster. Looking back at the last two races, if it had not been for that problem in Montreal, then the championship would still be completely open.
Now, it is still open, but not looking quite so straightforward and we have to be careful not to make any mistakes."
"If you look at the recent past championships, sometimes we had two weekends better than Renault and sometimes it was the other way round. The competition was very close right to the end of the season. This time, even if our rivals have been better than us over the past couple of races, I think we can fight back and that is what we have been working towards back at the factory and over the past three days at Silverstone."
"I think we have some good ideas for the next upcoming races, which can change the situation. But we have to ensure we make no more mistakes and it would be nice to think it is time for our rivals to make some mistakes to give us a bit of breathing space. At Silverstone, we tried a new aero package and I immediately felt it was working well and I was very happy with the balance of my F2007."
"Magny Cours and the French Grand Prix could be a good weekend for us. Last year, I finished on the podium and it was the start of a good run for me in the second half of the championship as things started to come right for us."
Kimi Raikkonen"Last week was a prefect week. We had a very good test in Silverstone: the car was much better than at the races in North America. So I'm really very confident of the race in Magny-Cours. We have new components, above all in the section of aerodynamics; and we have taken a step forward as far as the performance is concerned: if it is enough, we'll only know in France, when we go on the track under the same conditions as our competitors. This is the question mark you always carry with you after the tests. What we know for sure is that we think that we are competitive."
"This year it is fundamental to start from the front row, because it is very difficult to drive, when you're stuck behind other cars: unfortunately I've experienced that quite often at these races. I'm more and more confident with the F2007: we found a good setup, what you could already see in the race at Indianapolis. Now we have to transfer what we've seen yesterday afternoon and at Silverstone to the next two Grand Prix."
"I never came in first here, but I really enjoy driving on this track. The tarmac is extremely even and the track offers slow and fast corners; that makes it very challenging. Good aerodynamics and good traction for the exits of the slow corners are very important here. Five years ago I came close to victory: I was leading the race, but then I spun off the track due to oil lost by a Toyota and Michael passed me to win his fifth of his seven titles. I hope that this year things will be different! I don't know yet if we will race at Magny-Cours next year: maybe there will be new tracks, such as Valencia and Singapore; it's always nice for a driver to discover new circuits. After the first seven races of the season, we need to close the gap on our competitors: we will give our best to achieve that goal, right from the start."
Source Ferrari
