By Pablo Elizalde Thursday, February 8th 2007, 17:46 GMT
World champion Fernando Alonso believes McLaren still have work to do before they are ready for the start of the season, despite their impressive form in early testing.
McLaren have looked like the team to beat so far this year, with their drivers often topping the times with the new Mercedes-powered MP4-22 and showing strong form on long runs.
Despite their apparent speed, however, Alonso is staying cautious and reckons the British squad need to get a better grip on setting-up their car before the Australian Grand Prix.
"I don't know what to say. The times have been good and people are following us closely but the car, it's not even close to ready for Australia and time is running out," the McLaren driver told Spanish network Telecinco during testing at Jerez.
"I hope that in Barcelona and Bahrain we can get it set up properly in two weeks time," added the Spaniard, who reckons the Ferrari and Renault teams will be the main threat at the start of the season.
"Ferrari are looking very good and Renault will start the year well, but they will get worse, as usual."
When asked what he liked best about his car, Alonso joked: "The colours."
Alonso was the centre of attention during the tests at Jerez, where several thousand fans watched the local hero work with his new team.
The world champion admitted he was not happy with the way the Spanish track had handled the crowd, however, and said McLaren are considering not returning to Jerez to test.
"I enjoy the support from the Spanish people during the pre-season, but McLaren are considering not coming back to Jerez because they allow too many people inside the paddock," he said.
"It's got out of hand and it would be a shame if we didn't return to Spain to test just because people can't watch their manners."
