"I think the most important thing is to stay calm, keep your head cool and don’t let anything disturb you," Kovalainen commetns, "There will be a lot of attention because it is a new team for me, but I will just keep focusing on the job with the engineers and mechanics.
"I think I have prepared well and hope I can have a better start to the season than last year. This is my target, but I am aware that I still need to learn many things. I am still in a learning process with the team and know there are things I need to improve. But I believe I have a solid base and we are ready to get out there and start the season.
"At the moment, the focus is just on the first race and trying to start it better than last year. Hopefully, we can finish the race and have a good start to build on later on in the year, trying to improve the performance all the time. To be honest, for me, it is better not to think too much about anything but the first race."
Should Kovalainen find that form,
Formula One could again be in line for a four-way battle, for race wins at least, as Massa will not roll over and allow his team-mate to have things all his own way at Maranello.
"As far as the drivers are concerned, the fact that Kimi is now world champion does not change our approach to them," team chief Stefano Domenicali insists, "Our drivers are really great and we are very happy to have them. Both are very professional, if also very different in character. But we have our own rules that are pretty clear and they will start with the same opportunities, with what happens on the track deciding who is fastest."
Behind the top four, the battle is more complicated, with
BMW Sauber appearing to have lost a little of the form that saw it comfortably 'best of the rest' in 2007, with the result that it has been swallowed up by the likes of
Williams,
Renault and, potentially, both
Red Bull teams, with
Toyota waiting in the wings.
