Raikkonen: Gearbox issue no cause for concern

Kimi Raikkonen stressed that the technical issues which struck during the opening day of the final pre-season test were no major setback for him or Ferrari.

The team managed 72 laps on Tuesday - 100 down on Mercedes - after losing time when Raikkonen's car became stuck in eighth gear shortly after lunch. It is the second issue Raikkonen has had in his three days so far behind the wheel of the SF16-H, after a fuel pump issue struck during the first test.

"It is normal to have some little issues during testing like we had with the gearbox today," Raikkonen said in response to Tuesday's glitch.

"I am not concerned as we have time to fix it. That's the purpose of testing, learning new things and trying something different.

"We still have something to be done of course but it is a normal process this time of the year. It is a different story when we go racing."

Raikkonen said it was too early to try and draw concrete comparisons between Ferrari and their rivals, adding: "We will know pretty soon what will happen in Australia but so far the car feels good.

"I have no idea what the others are doing, lap times may vary with different tyres and fuel levels, but we know what we are doing and we are pretty happy with the way the car is handling.

"I think we have a very good package, time will tell if it is good enough."