Saturday: Alonso makes the difference at Ferrari
Rarely has the Spanish driver been so demonstrative after a qualifying session while only coming out with a 4th place. But the Ferrari driver seemed to be literally flying in front of his home crowd and reminded many observers of his determination. His teammate, less in form, struggled much more with his car, on which Scuderia had to reassess all its benchmarks after the ban on using its new rear wing.
Fernando Alonso – 4th
I did a perfect lap. I acknowledge that if I tried to do it again 20 times, I couldn’t do better. When you pull off a lap like that, it’s hard to put into words how you feel: always on the edge, on every corner, it’s really a special feeling for a driver. I am very happy with this result because we have never been on the second row this season. Pole position is still far away: today, the Red Bulls were once again out of reach and we need to work hard to get closer.
This morning, we made some adjustments to the car that did not deliver the expected results, partly due to the change in wind direction. We reverted to what we had yesterday for the qualifying and instantly, things went better.
In general, we have made a step forward in terms of performance, thanks to the developments we have brought here. So far, in the race, we have been better than in qualifying, so I think I can fight for the podium. The start will be difficult because the McLarens always get off the line well and they have one more set of new soft tires than us.
Felipe Massa – 8th
« It is definitely not the result we were hoping for, but all weekend we struggled with the car’s balance. Hopefully, with a full tank, the car will perform better, and then we can see if we can achieve a good result. On a track like this, it won’t be easy to preserve the tires or to find the best strategy.
In Q2, we decided to stay in the garage and take the risk of not going further, because it wouldn’t have made sense to move to Q3 but not have any soft tires left: time proved us right, even though we hoped to do better. It’s clear that we struggle more than others with hard tires.
We will definitely see more overtaking than in the past on this circuit, and it will mainly be due to tire degradation.
Pat Fry
« Great lap from Fernando who managed to put everything together perfectly without making the slightest mistake. He was brilliant, and this position is greatly deserved. We tried to preserve the tires as much as possible in qualifying, without taking risks at the start of Q1.
We have introduced many new things, but others have done the same, and it seems the gaps haven’t really changed: we must do even better to catch up with the best.
A circuit like this favors cars with a lot of downforce: this can be easily seen by analyzing the times in the different sectors. Our car is competitive in the first, but we lose a lot of time in the second. That’s where we need to improve.
Tomorrow, many things will depend on the lifespan of the tires and the ideal window to change them. We won’t get bored in the pits, and everyone will have to be at their best to be perfect, including the drivers.
