Heikki Kovalainen thinks that Formula 1's new American team Haas will have a "very difficult" debut season.

Haas, however, has entered the sport with a lot of confidence.

"Generally, this race in Australia can throw up some surprises," team driver Romain Grosjean, who has switched from Lotus, told France's Auto Hebdo.

"I think overall, we are not far from playing in the middle of the grid."

"We will try to score points as quickly as possible," he also told AFP, "and from then we will aim higher - top five, wins."

Kovalainen, a former McLaren and Caterham driver, admits that Haas's Ferrari connections will help.

In contrast, he told the Russian source Championat: "Caterham started from scratch and it was a disaster.

"I don't know all the details about their programme but I think it will be very difficult. Starting in Formula 1 is not easy if you do not have huge resources.

"Take Red Bull for example. They had a lot of resources and it still took them years to put together the right team."

The new season gets underway on Sunday with the Australian Grand Prix.