Alonso says McLaren closer to Ferrari

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By Pablo Elizalde Friday, April 13th 2007, 13:39 GMT


World champion Fernando Alonso believes McLaren are closer to rivals Ferrari following practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Alonso, winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix last Sunday, had insisted ahead of the Sakhir race that his team still needed to work to catch their Italian rivals.

And although Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen dominated today's practice sessions in Bahrain, Alonso believes McLaren are actually closer in terms of race pace.

"Two trouble-free practice sessions where we made positive progress," said Alonso, fifth fastest today. ""The track was very dirty and continued to improve throughout the session. We spent our time perfecting the set-up and evaluating the tyres.

"I completed some long runs and all in all I think we are closer to the Ferraris than we have been so far this season on a Friday but it's a long weekend so we will see what happens."

Teammate Lewis Hamilton, second fastest, also feels his car was more consistent over long runs, leaving him upbeat for the rest of the weekend.

"It has been a positive session today," said Hamilton. "In the first practice the track was very dirty and slippery so there was no point spending too much time looking at the set-up. In the second session we began our fine tuning and completed a couple of long runs.

"I think I was quicker and more consistent than previously in the long runs which is positive and there is definitely more to come. We now have quite a bit of data to look at but so far so good."

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Raikkonen predicts close battle in Bahrain

By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Friday, April 13th 2007, 15:04 GMT


Finn Kimi Raikkonen expects a tight battle between Ferrari and McLaren at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver, who lost the lead of the championship to McLaren rival Fernando Alonso in Malaysia last Sunday, dominated today's practice sessions in Bahrain, although he was just 0.013 seconds ahead of Alonso's teammate Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon.

"I think it is going to be very close fight between both of the teams, and BMW looks quite fast," Raikkonen told reporters after practice.

"But it is too early to say what the others teams did. So we will see tomorrow."

Raikkonen, using a new engine this weekend, was pleased with his day's work despite some handling problems with his car.

"It was okay in the end, I think," he said. "It was quite difficult in the middle of the day with the handling of the car, but we improved it with some more laps and I was pretty happy in the end."

Teammate Felipe Massa was also happy with his day's work after posting the fourth fastest time.

"I am pretty happy with the handling of the car, which has allowed me to be very consistent in terms of performance over long runs," said Massa.

"We have a good point from which to work over the rest of the weekend. In particular, we have to work on improving our performance on the first lap on new tyres. It all looks very close, but we have everything we need to do well in qualifying and in the race."

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Watch out for BMW, warns Hamilton

By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Friday, April 13th 2007, 15:32 GMT


McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has warned not to rule out the BMW Sauber team at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

The German squad have shone thanks to their race pace since the start of the season, and they are currently in third place in the constructors' championship.

BMW were one of the most impressive teams during testing in Bahrain last month, and although Hamilton expects McLaren and Ferrari to fight for victory, the Briton has warned not to write BMW off.

"I think it is going to be pretty similar to what we have had in the last couple of races," Hamilton told reporters after practice.

"There will be the two Ferraris and the two McLarens, and I think some of the other teams have got a bit of work to do to get close to us.

"BMW are extremely quick as well though. We definitely have to look out of them, as they have a lot of potential. But let's wait until final practice tomorrow. We don't know what fuel people were running today."

BMW drivers Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld were third and seventh fastest respectively in today's practice.

Hamilton, looking for a third consecutive podium finish, believes McLaren are closer to Ferrari this weekend.

"I think generally Ferrari seem to be very consistent on long runs, but today the gap seems to be a lot less than in the test. So that is positive on one side, but we also need to keep pushing as well," he said.

"I feel quite optimistic for tomorrow and I think we have definitely got the pace for one lap and we are more consistent over one lap."

The Briton, however, reckons Ferrari remain the team to beat, despite McLaren's one-two at the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend.

"We have definitely been working extremely hard to improve the car but I don't believe in three weeks we have closed the gap completely to Ferrari," Hamilton added.

"We have definitely made some steps forward, but they seem to be just as quick as they have always been. So the gap has got closer, but I still think they are the quickest car out there and we have got a lot of work to do to close the gap."