Whilst Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene is encouraged by his team’s Jerez performance, he is certain that a number of rivals are sandbagging.
Sebastian Vettel topped the opening two days of testing, whilst Kimi Raikkonen recorded the fastest overall time on the fourth day, prompting some to speculate that Ferrari has taken a massive step forward.
Hopeful signs according to Arrivabene, but he isn’t getting carried away and believes Ferrari’s rivals aren’t showing their pace yet.
“If one makes a comparison to last year, these past few days of testing have produced encouraging signs,” said the Italian.
“Above all, I am pleased that the group has rediscovered its motivation and team spirit.”
He added: “In terms of performance, I don’t think our competitors – one in particular – have shown their true potential over these past days.
“I think we will only discover the truth about them and about ourselves at the last Barcelona test session.”
He is likely referring to Mercedes which only posted the fourth quickest time, behind Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, due to a focus on reliability over outright pace.
