Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen said on Tuesday that a series of changes made to his car since his disappointing fourth place at Indianapolis made him confident about this weekend's French Grand Prix.
"I feel increasingly at ease with the F2007 car," said the Finn, who won the first race of the 2007 season but then lost ground in the standings.
"We did some good tests at Silverstone. The car was much better than in the two North American races and this gives me confidence for Magny-Cours," he said in remarks published on the Ferrari website.
Raikkonen, who is currently fourth in the world championship standings, said modifications to the aerodynamics had produced good results and that the F2007 car's performance had improved considerably.
He admitted that he didn't know whether the improvement would be enough to make an impression on McLaren's perfect combination of speed and reliability.
"After seven races we must start reducing the gap between us and our rivals, straight away," he noted.
Ferrari goes into this weekend's French Grand Prix needing a victory over McLaren to keep its championship hopes alive.
After seeing Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso dominate in the last three races, the Italian team trails McLaren by 35 points in the constructors' standings and the drivers' standings also show a similar divide.
Ferrari's tests at Silverstone have been aimed primarily at giving its drivers the speed they need to break McLaren's recent monopoly on pole positions.
Because it is increasingly difficult to overtake on many circuits, top grid positions are a key part of the British team's recent success, pundits say.
