Ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand prix, Raikkonen attended a Shell promotional event in Montreal during which, with the aid of a special pair of glasses, he was taken inside a Maranello road car's six-cylinder engine.

The 3D glasses allowed the Finn to immerse himself in a drop of V-Power fuel to see how far petrol technology has evolved in recent years thanks to motor sport. After all, Formula 1 has always been the home of the most advanced research and it has often been considered the final test bench before top products are put into the marketplace.

Raikkonen, who said he enjoyed the experience, admitted that fuel technology was still an area that was not easy for him to understand: "But I realise that this is a field that requires a very high level of professionalism, just as with the engineers and drivers in F1.

"I have a great admiration for the work that Shell carries out both for and alongside Ferrari and I have the utmost faith in the people who work on developing the fuels and oils that we use."

The Finn finished with a brief look ahead to this weekend's race: "The Montreal track is easy only in appearance," he said. "I believe the preparation for Sunday's results will start on Friday and I hope the evolutions we have brought will confirm they work on the track.

"Obviously our target for the race is a good result after a start to the season that has been hard, especially for me. But we will have to see how our improvements compare to those of our opponents who certainly haven't stopped work over the last few days. From Friday we will know more."