Ramirez predicts Alonso, Massa battle

"Alonso will win," Ramirez was quoted as saying by Autosprint.

"There are no doubts over his driving talent, of course.

"However, what's new is that McLaren-Mercedes will regain their reliability: things have changed for the better with the new car.

"The first time Fernando tested for the team he was perplexed, while now he is enthusiastic.

"Ferrari will take full advantage of the know-how they've developed through their long partnership with Bridgestone. They will fight with McLaren and it will be a great fight, but I've already said how I think it will end.

"The thing is that in my opinion the real challenger to McLaren won't be (Kimi) Raikkonen, but Massa.

"Felipe is improving massively and in the end he can reveal himself to be more performing than Kimi."

Ramirez emphasised the importance of McLaren's influx of new sponsors, headlined by former Ferrari backers Vodafone, and praised Alonso's rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton.

"The team have terrific potential and have also found so many important sponsors that they can be considered the richest, as far as commercial partners' contributions are concerned," he said.

"The revelation will be Lewis Hamilton: he is a sensational driver, a natural talent. I'm sure we'll see him winning a race in his debut season.

Ramirez also tipped BMW-Sauber to impress in 2007, but he believes that defending champions Renault will have a tougher season.

"BMW have taken enormous steps forward, people will talk about them," he said.

"Renault's car hasn't impressed much, even though it's improving.

"But (Heikki) Kovalainen is a rookie, while (Giancarlo) Fisichella has already shown what he's capable of, and I frankly don't see him in the role of World Championship contender.

"To me he looks perfect in the role of number two."