The double World Champ, who has never finished on the podium at the Valencia street circuit, set the pace on Friday afternoon, clocking a 1:37.968.And although he was quickest by two-tenths ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, the Ferrari driver insists it's too early to say how his 150° Italia will perform as the weekend progresses.
"Overall, a positive start to this Valencia weekend, my second home race," said the Spaniard.
"We got through all our planned programme, working mainly on tyres, where the chief element at this grand prix is the first appearance of the Medium.
"It was important that we were able to do so many laps, because on a circuit like this one, getting a lot of kilometres under your belt helps you gain confidence in the car, looking for the limits and thereby improving performance.
"The track characteristics are well suited to our car, but it is too early to say where we are compared to the others.
"Already, in the past, we have gone well on the first day only to see ourselves losing out by a second in qualifying, therefore I don't even want to consider today's time sheet.
"In FP1 and FP2 you try so many things and the track changes very quickly - even more so on a street circuit like this one - so it is really impossible to make predictions."
The one prediction he is making is that Red Bull, despite the new ban on changing engine mapping after qualifying and ahead of Sunday's race, will still be the team to beat in qualifying.
However, he reckons Ferrari can put up a challenge of their own.
"The car seems to handle well, therefore we can tackle qualifying with confidence, aware that we are up against very strong rivals: it's not by chance that Red Bull have always taken pole in the first seven races of the year and clearly they are still the favourites.
"Overtaking here will be easier than in Monaco, but grid position will nevertheless be important."
Source: Planet-F1
