Fernando Alonso has warned that winter testing times will be more deceptive than ever when the Formula 1 teams get back on track next week.
With mid-race refuelling banned under the tweaked 2010 rules, Alonso expects a wild variation in the fuel loads teams will use during tests - as they must get used to running with enough fuel on board for 300 kilometre races as well as testing ultra-light qualifying set-ups.
"I think we will have 'blind' tests because with the amount of fuel you can now put in the car, it is almost impossible that all the teams will be running with the same fuel," said Alonso.
"So there will be tests where there will be a difference of 3s and we cannot be happy because we do not know what the others are doing"We could be last and it might not mean anything.
"We just have to focus on our own work and see if we are happy.
"The first test is a good test for our feeling, but not for our competitiveness because that will only be seen at the first race."
But while he cautioned against paying attention to the testing timesheets, Alonso is confident Ferrari can achieve plenty when it wheels out the F10 at Valencia from Monday.
"I'm sure by the first races we will be fairly comfortable because this is a team very capable of making the best car possible available to you in a short time," said Alonso.
"They will see how the car goes and then adjust it to our driving styles.
"The first test is already a good benchmark, the first day you can already understand if you're comfortable in the car or not."
Amid rumours in Italy that Ferrari was already preparing new parts because its projections for the new car had fallen short of expectation, Alonso said he would not panic if the team was not at peak form when the season gets underway in Bahrain in mid-March.
"We will try to be successful this year and if we are not there at the beginning it is no problem because there are 19 races," he said.

 

It pains me to agree with him.

 

Yeah, he's probably right. Or he's making excuses for being slow.