Alonso still learning about new Ferrari

Throughout 2011 Ferrari promised so much from their new aggressive 2012 Ferrari.

However there have yet to be many signs of potential from Ferrari over the first test session in Jerez and the opening days of the Barcelona test.

Ferrari were said to be disappointed following their showing at Jerez, Fernando Alonso did top the time sheets at one stage, but overall, they appeared to be falling behind rivals Red Bull and McLaren.

On Wednesday that gap looked bigger than ever when defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel completed a race simulation for Red Bull, while Lewis Hamilton also completed a simulation for McLaren.

Vettel went on to complete 104 laps, while Hamilton completed 121 laps.

Meanwhile Alonso concentrated on shorter stints, collecting data and learning more and more about the car during his 87 laps.

'It's true that we're getting information out of the car, information that we should already have in our pocket, but the car seems quite complex to understand and we need to keep understanding its behaviour,' Alonso told Sky Sports.

But while Ferrari's development appears to be a few steps behind that of Red Bull and McLaren, Alonso remains unconcerned.

'I remember last year at the first test, we did a race distance on the final day - but we were one and a half seconds behind Red Bull in Australia. So race distances are these always welcome but I prefer to have a performing car.'

He concluded: 'At the moment, we don't know exactly where we are. I think that maybe we're not the fastest but definitely we're not the slowest so we need to wait and see, especially at the final test,'