Kimi has a lot to learn before March.

[davewilson]

While Fernando Alonso gears up to put his new 2007 machine through its paces at the Valencia circuit in Spain in just seven short days, the man touted to be his main rival for this year’s championship crown, Kimi Raikkonen, will have to wait a few more days before he will be able to get his first taste of Ferrari power with the team recently confirming that the Finn will have his first test for the team at Mugello, between the 21st and 23rd of January.   

By the time the Finn straps himself into the car, he would have been out of the cockpit for a total of three months, ever since the 2006 season came to a close at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil on October 22nd. No other driver that will be taking part in the 2007 championship will have had such a long break.   

Despite making a visit to the Jerez test session at the start of December as a guest of his new team, Kimi was unable to do little more than observe as he was still under firm contract to his former McLaren team. This came to a close at the end of December, meaning he has been an official driver for the Scuderia for ten days now.

 

However, his time at Jerez was not totally wasted as he while there he spoke at length to Felipe Massa and to the Ferrari and Bridgestone engineers. This will be of some use to the young Finn, but with the Australian Grand Prix taking place on the 18th of March, Kimi still has a lot more to learn as he prepares to contest the 2007 championship with a new team and Bridgestone’s new 2007 tyres.

The Stig