Three way battle - Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen was part of a good natured and entertaining FIA press conference this afternoon at the Catalunya circuit. He was sitting next to Fernando Alonso and the other participants were McLaren's Spanish test driver, Pedro de la Rosa and Honda's Rubens Barrichello.

The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver comes to Spain leading the Drivers' classification, but according to Kimi, that's not very important. "Of course it is nice to be first," he said. "But the championship is only a few races old so it does not mean very much. There is still a long way to go and the important thing is to be in the lead later in the year, when it really matters. All the same, the start of the championship has been positive, although it could have been even better."

As for this actual race, the Finn does not have a great track record here. "It's true that I have not got many good results in Spain. For example, last year, I think I only did nine laps. Let's hope this Sunday is better and that at the very least, I get into the points."

The Ferrari F2008 comes to Spain with various new components, but Raikkonen feels he will only really discover their effect tomorrow. "In the test here last week, the day I was driving was affected by rain and I only did a few laps on a dry track and I only tried the new nose for a short while on intermediate tyres. But the team generally is happy with the way the test went and feels we have made a step forward. There is probably still some work to do, but we will find out tomorrow in practice."

If last year's title was a fight between the Scuderia and McLaren-Mercedes, there are signs that this year we will see a three way battle. Kimi's view is that it will be very close: "If you look at the last couple of races, BMW is looking very strong, but I feel that they and McLaren are maybe on the same level at the moment, while we are just slightly ahead.

Former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello will soon be celebrating the record for having started more grands prix than any other driver, with Turkey being the official date. While the Brazilian stood up behind Raikkonen, flexing his arm muscles like a boxing champion, Kimi admitted that this record was not on his personal agenda. "I don't even know how many races I've done," he admitted. "But I don't think I will still be here to do 260 grands prix or whatever the number is."

Finally, he was asked for his opinion on comments from Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo about the possibility of Fernando Alonso joining the Scuderia. Kimi looked to his left at Alonso, who pretended to twist the Finn's arm. "Maybe it's better for me not to say anything," he laughed.