No early season prediction from the Melbourne winnerAustralian Grand Prix winner
Kimi Raikkonen says the steamy weather and long stretches of Malaysia's Sepang circuit will test Ferrari's ability to maintain their early-season dominance.
The F1 circus heads to Kuala
Lumpur for the second race on the 17-race schedule on April 8, with Ferrari the team to beat after Raikkonen's commanding victory in Australia.
Asked whether Ferrari's victory was a portent of the 2007 season, Raikkonen said: "It's too early to say and we need to wait for a couple of races to see where we really are. We're in a good position right now and we just have to keep working hard and keep improving and try to win as many races as we can."
Raikkonen knows from experience the different challenges confronting F1 teams from the temperate autumn of Melbourne to the tropical heat of Malaysia.
"It is a completely different circuit in Sepang, different weather, the hot weather makes it more difficult to get the car right and the tyres work differently in the hot conditions," he said. "We will see how we do in testing next week and then we will work from there."
Alonso has good memories of Sepang after winning there with Renault in 2005 and was runner-up to Renault teammate
Giancarlo Fisichella last year. He was also third in 2003.
"I have always been very good there and have great memories of Sepang so hopefully it will be a good weekend for us," Alonso said. "We will be trying to keep scoring points and finishing on the podium.
"You cannot afford any mistakes in the world championship these days, so in the first four or five races the most important thing is to finish all of them, if at all possible on the podium.”
"As the car develops you start fighting for victories. Malaysia can be really interesting."
Rookie Hamilton has yet to race at Sepang, but has watched plenty of races there on television.
"I've not been to Malaysia before, I don't know the circuit but I have watched it on TV and I'm excited to get on to the circuit," he said.
"We are going to be trying to close the gap between us and Ferrari and we are going to be developing the car more with three days' testing so we are going to push and hopefully maximise the test and make sure we're at the front again for the next race."
Source AFP
