Kimi Raikkonen believes Ferrari has delivered a “strong package” for the 2018 Formula 1 season and that the team could have gone faster during pre-season testing.
Sebastian Vettel recorded a time of 1:17.182 on Thursday, a new unofficial track record at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which Raikkonen followed up with a 1:17.221 on Friday.
Both drivers, though, could have crept into the 1:17.0s, had they strung together all three ideal sector times on their respective Hypersoft runs.
The laps left Ferrari significantly clear of the field, albeit with the caveat that reigning World Champions Mercedes did not use Pirelli’s new-for-2018 pink-ringed compound.
“I think overall it’s a strong package,” said Raikkonen of Ferrari’s SF71-H.
“Obviously there’s always things to improve but that’s normal with any car even if you win races there’s always things to improve.
“It’s very reliable and we will see from circuit to circuit, it changes here, new surface, it’s a bit hard to know to compare.
“There’s always things to improve. If we want to go faster, for sure we can. No one knows who’s fastest until we go to the first two races but it was a positive we got a good amount of laps and trying the car to do things and getting more comfortable.”
Raikkonen was typically reluctant to predict Ferrari’s position among the pecking order.
“I guess you always wishing a bit more here and there, laps and trying things,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter how many laps you do you always kind of wondering, there’s endless possibilities to try things.
“Obviously we see in Melbourne where we are. Nobody really knows, it’s always a guessing work. Let's wait a few weeks and see.”
