Friday: Alonso Best of the Rest, Räikkönen Struggling
Ferrari can once again count on Fernando Alonso: the double world champion managed to secure two impressive third-place finishes in a car that is weak on the straights. Kimi Räikkönen had a difficult second session, where he was more than two seconds behind his teammate.
Fernando Alonso (No. 14): 3rd and 3rd
First of the others during both free practice sessions, despite a less swift Ferrari on the straights, Fernando Alonso enjoyed himself at Spa and it was evident: Compared to other race weekends, it’s a slightly different story here, because Spa is a high-speed circuit and, after a month off, coming back to race on such a fantastic track is a real pleasure. It was nice to be able to drive in the dry today.
The Spanish driver must however contend with a power unit that does not match the Mercedes engine… On this circuit, and at Monza, engine performance is very important. We know we don’t have a magic wand, but we will nevertheless try to do everything as best as possible. The car behaved as we expected from our simulations, and that’s really something positive.
Kimi Räikkönen (No. 7): 5th and 15th
After a satisfactory first session, the Finnish driver encountered an electrical problem in the afternoon. This explains his massive gap of 2.3 seconds with Alonso: « A difficult day, complicated by a series of setbacks that cost us valuable time on track. In the morning, I had a brake problem, but once it was resolved, we were able to complete the planned program for the first session. The new parts we brought for this race seem to work, but we will be able to work on the best package of the weekend only after cross-referencing all the data. In the afternoon, an electrical problem complicated our task, preventing us from going out for our race simulation. Tomorrow, we can expect a very busy free practice session, during which we will do our best to prepare the car for qualifying and the race. »
