Norbert Haug thinks Ferrari's recent experience of the Sakhir circuit should make Ferrari the favourites to win the upcoming Bahrain grand prix.

Of formula one's eleven teams, only Ferrari and Toyota opted to make the expensive trip to Bahrain for six days of winter testing.

"That should be an advantage for them," McLaren-Mercedes official Haug, referring to the forthcoming race in the Gulf region, told the German news agency SID.

Indeed, it was on the back of Ferrari's pre-season Bahrain form that the Maranello based team emerged as the winter favourite.

At Sakhir, Toyota's Jarno Trulli openly marvelled at the pace of the F2008, as the red single seater went two seconds quicker than last year's pole lap.

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali agrees that the Bahrain test should be an advantage, but warned that track conditions in April are likely to be completely different to the February test.

But "having spent more days there compared to the others is something positive", the Italian conceded.

Source: GMM