Raikkonen warns Mercedes: Power unit not Ferrari's only gain

Kimi Raikkonen has warned Mercedes against assuming that improving their power unit will be enough to stay ahead of Ferrari in the title race. The Scuderia are assumed to now have the most potent power unit on the Formula 1 grid, but Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes top the standings at the summer shutdown.

An innovative way of harvesting and deploying electrical power is thought to be behind Ferrari's gains in the power stakes.

Anecdotal evidence from rival drivers, suggests that Ferrari-powered cars are particularly dominant in exiting corners.

Although errors from Sebastian Vettel especially have hampered the title ambitions at Ferrari, Raikkonen remains sure that they are well-placed to challenge.

"It's a combination of many things," Raikkonen said of Ferrari's gains in 2018.

"We have a decent car, we keep improving things. It's a lot to do with the feel, how you feel the car and tyres and all these things.

"Obviously some circuits are better, some conditions are better for one team than other, and I think we've been pretty okay most of the places. I think a lot of things will be falling in the right places."

Although the period following the summer break is associated with a slight freeze in development as teams begin to focus on the following season's cars, Raikkonen says Ferrari will not relent as they hunt a first drivers' title since the Finn's in 2007 and a first team championship since 2008.

"There's still things to improve for us as a whole team, but that's never-ending," he said.

"It doesn't matter, even if you win all the races there's always things to improve. That kind of area in this sport will never stop and I don't think you are ever good enough in many ways."