Ferrari launch set for 14 January

Ferrari will hold their team launch for 2007 at Maranello on 14 January, with Kimi Raikkonen expected to get his first run out for the team in the following days.




The Italian outfit will have team management, as well as Felipe Massa and Raikkonen in attendance at the media event, but have yet to confirm their pre-season testing plans.

The Scuderia, notoriously, spend much of January and February testing at their own tracks but should, at the very least, take part in some of the testing planned at Bahrain.

Kimi praises 'friendly' Ferrari

After five years in a McLaren cockpit, Kimi Raikkonen says he can already sense a "friendlier" atmosphere at his new team.

The Finn will test Ferrari's 2007 car for the first time at Fiorano later this month, but he has already visited the Italian team's Maranello factory and attended a day of winter testing in Spain.

With his McLaren contract finally expiring last Sunday, he told the major Finnish newspaper Ilta Sanomat, "I am feeling really good inside this team, even if I am yet to even sit in my car."

"What I have noticed is that the atmosphere here is friendlier than at McLaren. They also do not appear to be too interested in what the newspapers write about me," Raikkonen said.

The 27-year-old's relationship with Ron Dennis is believed to have neared breaking point last year when the McLaren chief warned Raikkonen to stop attracting the attention of tabloid editors.

In a round of rare criticism for the laid-back race driver, Kimi described Briton Dennis as a "control-freak".

In contrast, he said Ferrari boss Jean Todt is a "completely normal guy".

Also referring to Todt, Raikkonen added, "He comes from the rally scene and he has quite a lot of experience with Finnish drivers, so I cannot imagine him getting too excited about trivial matters."

Brundle: Ferrari starts 2007 as favourite

ITV Sport commentator Martin Brundle believes Ferrari starts the 2007 Formula 1 season as favourite, despite seismic changes behind the scenes.

Kimi Raikkonen has yet to turn a wheel for the Italian squad as it heads into the new year with a new infrastructure following the departures of technical director Ross Brawn and engine man Paulo Martinelli.

But Brundle believes the momentum it carried into the winter after Felipe Massa's barn-storming win in Brazil, coupled with its key rivals Renault, McLaren and Honda's switch to Bridgestone, will give Ferrari an edge this year.

"Ferrari ended the season with a lot of momentum and you don't lose that in a hurry," Brundle told ITV-F1.com.

"Ferrari has got the quality in depth and I would fully expect it to come through this tricky patch.

"With its knowledge of Bridgestones, Raikkonen's pace and legendary reliability on its side, for me Ferrari will start the season as favourite.

"But only just…"

Montezemolo: Raikkonen must win '07 title

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says Kimi Raikkonen must seize the opportunity and win the world championship for the Italian team next season.

With rivals Renault having captured the title in the past two years, di Montezemolo believes that Raikkonen must fulfil his potential in 2007 and win his first title, which the Ferrari president believes would have already happened had it not been for poor car reliability at McLaren.

"It must be said that in 2005 Raikkonen would have won the championship with a more reliable car," he was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"He broke down five times, and he was always in the lead. So now he must understand this is the time to win the title.

"(Felipe) Massa goes extremely quickly and maybe he will be faster systematically. I hope they will both go quickly."

He added: "We are ready to get back to winning ways. This way Jean Todt would be able to retire serenely and so would I.

"Schumacher arrived at the right time and now arrives Raikkonen, also at the right time."

Amid continued questioning about Raikkonen's partying lifestyle, di Montezemolo said he has no concerns about the Finn's approach to the job.

"It happens to everyone to get drunk at times," he said. "(Eddie) Irvine was a bit like that too. It also happened to a guy from Kerpen, no matter how difficult it is to believe it.

"I'm not worried at all about Kimi. He is motivated and he has the right approach with Ferrari."

McLaren Wouldn't Let Raikkonen Test with Ferrari

Ron Dennis pushed for Fernando Alonso's early test debut but did not allow Kimi Raikkonen to similarly drive before Christmas, according to a report in the Spanish press.

The newspaper El Mundo Deportivo claims that while Raikkonen seemed unbothered about whether or not he would win an early release from his McLaren contract, Ferrari chiefs actually did ask their McLaren counterparts for clearance for a 2006 test.

"Ron Dennis did not give his approval," the Spanish nationwide daily sports newspaper read.

El Mundo Deportivo quoted Dennis, Woking based McLaren's chairman, as recently saying that negotiations for Alonso's release from his Renault contract would likely differ from the talks with Ferrari.

The Briton reportedly said: "(That is) because the relationship between McLaren-Mercedes and Renault is very different to the relationship between McLaren and Ferrari."

Montezemolo: Ferrari's year next year.

Having had to play second fiddle to Renault for the past two seasons, Ferrari will be back on top of the Formula One world in 2007, according to president Luca di Montezemolo.

Despite losing Michael Schumacher to retirement, and seeing several key technical changes, at the end of the 2006 campaign, di Montezemolo is confident that the Scuderia can bounce back and take the fight to both Renault and McLaren, which itself is predicting a resurgence following the capture of world champion Fernando Alonso for next year.

Ferrari made its own high-profile recruitment after Schumacher's decision to quit, but di Montezemolo puts his optimism down to the spirit of the people working at Maranello as much as having landed Kimi Raikkonen to partner 2006 race winner Felipe Massa.

"Next year, we will win back the world championship because we have extraordinary persons," he told Italy's Domenico In, "Ferrari is my life, something that began 25 years ago with a person that taught me a lot, Enzo Ferrari. Since then, our fans have lived through some difficult moments but, with Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt, also some extraordinary ones. Next year, we will win back the championship because we still have extraordinary persons."

Ferrari: Kimi can booze

Jean Todt says he is not overly concerned that new acquisition Kimi Raikkonen, to replace Michael Schumacher from 2007, is fond of an alcoholic beverage or two.

Ferrari's CEO and temporary team principal, however, suggested to the 27-year-old Finn that his tolerance could run dry if Kimi continues to be a drunken regular on the tabloid front pages.

"If from time to time he wants to have some drinks with his friends," Todt, 60, told the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, "We will ask him kindly to do so with discretion."

Generally, Todt is excited by Raikkonen's arrival at the Prancing Horse, and he denied that Schumacher's withdrawal means that the term "dream team" should no longer be used.

Referring to Raikkonen, he insisted, "The boy has talent, he deals with defeat with dignity and does not go around talking too much or complaining."