Pedro de la Rosa has admitted he senses a little too much pessimism from the Ferrari camp.
Amid talk the famous team’s new F2012 car is a flop and needs to be substantially redesigned, the La Gazzetta dello Sport daily wondered recently: “Let’s hope it’s just pre-tactics.”

De la Rosa, the veteran Spanish driver for HRT, thinks there is an element of truth to that.

“They are better than people think,” he told Cadena Ser radio.

“On the other hand I know that there are teams that are stronger, but I wouldn’t rule out the podium — I assure you,” the 41-year-old insisted.

“What happens is you try to remove the pressure that is on you. As for me, I see Ferrari in a better shape than the sort of negative feeling that exists here in Spain.

“I think they have their problems like everyone else, but their car is faster than it seems.”

It was Pat Fry, Ferrari’s new technical director, who announced recently that the F2012 is not currently a podium contender.

“This is not something that goes through my head,” Felipe Massa admitted to reporters in Sao Paulo this week.

“It is true we tested a type of exhaust and realised it was not the right thing. But last year everyone was 90 per cent sure we would fight for the title and then we did not.

“I won’t hide that we are not 100 per cent satisfied with what we did in the three test sessions in Spain.

“But we have a very strong team and I have lots of faith in their capacity to be able to develop the chassis during the season,” he added.

HISPANIA Racing will not take part in the Jerez test-sessions schedule and will participate in a Pirelli filming-session in Monza.

Hispania Racing will be in action in Monza from the 14th to 16th of February, and will travel to Barcelona for the final European testing-session straight after the filming-exercise is completed, in order to be ready for testing in Barcelona on the 18th of February.

Colin Kolles, Hispania Racing Team Principal: “We are happy to support PIRELLI in Monza.”

Mike Gascoyne believes that there would be much more overtaking if new tracks were built with some imagination, while pointing to Abu Dhabi and Bahrain as producing the most boring races last year and asking why F1 returns to boring race tracks.

The Lotus technical boss told Reuters, “The shame is that, Monaco apart, a lot of the races now that are really boring are all the purpose-designed tracks built in deserts where you could have done absolutely anything that you want. Bahrain and Abu Dhabi were the two most boring races (of 2010).”

Gascoyne, known in the F1 paddock for his straight talking, pointed out, “It’s pretty disappointing that you’ve got two massively boring races on circuits where you had literally carte blanche to do anything you liked. You could have had elevation change or moved sand wherever you want it.”

The first test sessions of the F1 pre-season are taking place at Valencia, where teams are coming to terms with new gizmos that have been introduced with the aim of increasing overtaking such as KERS and driver operated movable rear wing.

But Gascoyne is adamant,  “If on certain circuits you have cracking races every year then why don’t we stop going to boring racing circuits?”