Fernando Alonso is confident that the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix will mark the start of a “very good season” for Ferrari, on the back of its highly promising pre-season pace.
The former two-time world champion, who finally joined the legendary Italian squad in January after years of speculation, has already described its new F10 as the best car he has ever driven after it proved both consistent over long runs, and reliable, across the four winter tests.
Ahead of his debut race for the team, the 28-year-old – installed by many as favourite to win at Sakhir – admits he is relishing the return of racing action, particularly as the team looks to have a car capable of challenging for the title.
“I’m definitely looking forward to Bahrain,” he said in a video interview with Ferrari’s website.
“It has been a long winter testing and now it is time to deliver in the race.
“We arrive with quite an optimistic view of how is the car in the winter, so I think Bahrain will be the start of a very good season for us.”
The Spaniard boasts a strong record in season-opening races, the former Renault man scoring points in every one since his second Formula 1 season in 2003 and winning once when Bahrain last held the curtain-raising round four years ago.
Nevertheless, despite Ferrari’s strong pre-season form, he is not underestimating the challenges it will face at the traditionally dusty Sakhir venue and knows the team must be operating at its top level to come away with a strong result.
“The first race is always difficult to understand – especially in Bahrain, it will be very different conditions on the track from Friday to Sunday, when the track has more rubber," explained the two-time Bahrain winner.
“So we need to be calm, we need to do a good first race of the championship with no mistakes, full concentration, to get a good weekend.
“And in terms of result, and how we will go, we need to be calm and I’m sure that it will be fine.”
Alonso added that he already feels fully at home at Ferrari after building good relationships with all its race team and team-mate Felipe Massa during the month-long pre-season testing programme.
“The integration with the team and the relationship with all the mechanics, the engineers and the technical staff is going very, very well,” he said.
“We have been nearly one month together in Spain testing so I think the relationship grew up very quickly and I feel comfortable in the team.
“I think with Felipe we have been a lot with the car together sharing some feedback and experience with the F10.
“And then, with Felipe as well, [it has been] great, because I know him a little bit better as we are talking very often about soccer, about [the] Brazil/Spain competition for the World Cup.
“Everything is great and I think it will be even better in the next coming months.”