Räikkönen: « I’m not the favorite! »

The reigning world champion, Kimi Räikkönen does not necessarily consider himself the favorite in this year 2008. He states that it is too early to say if Ferrari has gained an advantage over the other teams. Thus, he doesn’t know if Scuderia will come out on top after the Australian Grand Prix.

Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne, the Finn stated that he hoped McLaren would be their main competitor this year, as the team was in 2007.

When asked if he felt like a favorite a few hours before the season kickoff, Räikkönen replied: « No, we haven’t started the championship yet, we are doing our best, but we are expecting a tough battle with the other big team… »

« Anything can happen. I think we have a good team and the atmosphere has been great since last year. I don’t know if we will be in a better position than the other teams, there isn’t much difference. »

« We should be in a good position but it is too early to say for sure, » he added.

Regarding Fernando Alonso, Räikkönen believes that the Spaniard will be held back by the R28, which lacks competitiveness.

« For Fernando, I’m not sure about him; he’s fast, but he doesn’t have a car as fast as last year. »

« For McLaren, I don’t know their level of speed. We will see over the next few races, but I expect strong opposition from Hamilton and Kovalainen, » he concluded.