Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren’s test driver, has admitted he believes Ferrari are one step ahead of all their Formula One rivals at the moment thanks to their improved aerodynamic package they have been testing this week.
Felipe Massa showed he was a force to be reckoned with as he became the only driver this week to break the 1 minute 30 second barrier at the Sakhir track in Bahrain – what makes it even more incredible is that he wasn’t apparently on a low-fuel run at the time.
However de la Rosa believe that despite Ferrari’s straight-line speed advantage, there is still time for McLaren to catch them up. “The championship is long and we are not far away from them,” he said. “On a single lap we look pretty good, but Ferrari stand out over the long runs. It should be remembered that our car for Australia will look totally different to the ones we take to Malaysia and Bahrain. Our development is going to be non-stop.”
De la Rosa went on to say that he thought the two Ferrari drivers were favourites to win in Australia.
