FUJI SPEEDWAY, Japan, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen admits he is unsure of what to expect as Formula One returns to the Fuji Speedway for the first time in 30 years.

All season either McLaren or Ferrari has had a significant pace advantage depending on the characteristics of each circuit.

Last time out in Belgium for example, Raikkonen and his teammate Felipe Massa were comfortably ahead of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in the McLarens.

Normally the teams have a good idea of how they will fare before they get to the circuit but Fuji is an unknown quantity in this respect.

After winning at Spa-Francorchamps Raikkonen hinted that Ferrari may struggle in Japan but the Finn sounded far more confident on arriving in Asia. "Honestly, I´ve seen the track only in the papers," he said.

"I read that our car would not adapt perfectly to this kind of track, but I know that our team has worked very hard, so we can be competitive during the weekend.

"It´s difficult to tell who might have an advantage here. We know that McLaren will be very strong, but they know that we will be too."

Raikkonen is currently 13 points behind championship leader Hamilton and 11 behind Alonso but he believes that the added pressure of being in front could force the McLaren men to play safe.

"I´ll face this race just like I faced the ones before, which means that I want to win," he said.

"We´re behind, so actually we don´t have any other choice. We´ll try to go on riding the wave of the 1-2 win at Spa-Francorchamps.

"The two McLarens are still well ahead and obviously they don´t want to make any stupid mistakes. I have nothing to lose, but they have to be very careful."

Unlike many drivers, including Massa, Raikkonen has not prepared for the Fuji circuit by using a computer simulator.

Instead he will rely on the more traditional method of using the Friday and Saturday practice runs to familiarise himself with the track.

"I know that some drivers prepared themselves for this race using simulators, but to be honest, that´s something I don´t like," he said.

"I´ve never played with a PlayStation, never used simulators and I think that my performance did not suffer at all.

"I´ve always been able to get to know a new race track very fast. This hasn´t changed since I´ve been racing in Formula One.

"With three hours of free practice on Friday and one on Saturday morning I don´t think that there will be any problems in qualifying."