2017 testing "much smoother" than 2016 - Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen admits that he is positive after the first week of winter testing, and thinks that Ferrari are in a much better place than they were 12 months ago.

Ferrari topped the time sheets on two out of the four days of testing and completed many laps, sparking speculation that not only are they reliable, but also quick.

"If we compare with how it went a year ago it's been much smoother going, so it's a good start," Raikkonen told reporters in Barcelona. 

"We've been doing our own stuff and I'm happy with how things are running. The car has a good feeling, everything has been reasonable, we haven't had any issues – we cannot complain too much.

"Are we going to be fast enough? We don't know that yet; how it turns out at the end of the year is hard to say. We've learned lessons from the past years and the team has done a good job, but will it be enough? We will see - but the first feelings are good, and that's the main thing."

When asked about rivals Mercedes and Red Bull, the Finn said: "I don't see Red Bull or Mercedes – I see their lap times like all of you guys, but who knows what everybody is doing. 

"We know what we are doing, and we are reasonably happy with how things are running. Some years it runs smoothly, some years not – and this year has been good so far.

"But obviously there is a lot of work still to do. We have another week before the first race, so we'll try to do another good week next week and see."

Fergal Walsh