• Valencia Testing

Alonso plays down Ferrari dominance

Fernando Alonso thinks the testing times could be misleading © Getty Images

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• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
• |
• Robert Kubica
• |
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• McLaren
• |
• Renault

Fernando Alonso has played down Ferrari's dominance at the Valencia test this week, after the Italian team topped the timesheets on all three days.

He got his first chance to test the new F10 on Wednesday after Felipe Massa spent the first two days setting up the car. He was immediately quick and by the end of the day had set the fastest time of the week.

But when asked by Autosport if Ferrari were now the favourites he said: "No, I don't think so. It's just the first day and at least for me the priority was getting completely comfortable. There are many things to discover for me, many things to learn.

"I think maybe if we topped the times over the three days it is related to fuel load or whatever, or maybe because it's true we are competitive. But before being competitive we need to make sure we do a lot of laps and that the car is strong and can finish all the grands prix. We need to make the car very, very strong and until Barcelona or the last test at Jerez I think we will not look for the performance."

After a lacklustre season at Renault in 2009, Alonso said he was keeping his initial expectations low.

"The first impression is always good. It was very good last year, and I was not in Q3 very often. For that I'm very, very cautious. It was a good first day, but also because I found the car very easy to drive because Felipe was running for two days and I've been taking this information from him which was a help."

His replacement at Renault, Robert Kubica, was relatively upbeat about his chances and said that the times were misleading. The R30, painted in a striking yellow and black colour scheme, bore some resemblance to the team's disappointing 2009 car, but Kubica said it was only a cosmetic similarity and that this year's version would prove to be competitive.

"It just looks like the old car, but it's new," he is told Auto Motor und Sport. "Perhaps it is because we have a shorter car than our competitors. With full tanks, we are on the pace and I don't think much slower than Ferrari."

Kubica admitted that the new McLaren is the one that impressed him most this week.

"Clearly the McLaren," he answered. "In the area of the rear they have some very interesting aerodynamic solutions."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.