Sunday: Scuderia Ferrari hoped for better in Singapore

Fernando Alonso – 4th

Unfortunately, today it was impossible to finish on the podium. We were not fast enough, and even though we were third at certain moments in the race, we knew that sooner or later we would be overtaken. Obviously, if you make a good start and something happens and you do everything perfectly, then the podium may be possible, but the reality is that our car is the third in terms of performance. Then, as happened today, if the safety car wipes out the few seconds advantage we had over Webber and the backmarkers, who may have been a bit distracted, create unexpected problems, then things become more difficult. At the start, with the super softs, we had major tire degradation, while with the softs, things were more or less similar to what the Red Bulls and McLarens had. We fought all weekend and I’m delighted with how the team worked, because they did their best and we managed to get the most out of what we had this weekend. We have five difficult races ahead of us, but our motivation remains intact; at certain moments we may be able to attack, while at others we will have to defend, but no matter the situation, we will always give our maximum.

Felipe Massa – 9th

There is no reason to hide behind the disappointment and anger I feel at the end of a race that should have allowed me to achieve a completely different result. The damage caused by the contact with Hamilton penalized me significantly because I lost a lot of time due to heavy traffic. After the race, I tried to speak to him to clarify things, but he left without even responding to me, so I told him what I thought once in the interview area. Additionally, the safety car added to my problems; I had changed tires a few laps earlier to super softs, which didn’t allow me to reach the end, while other drivers were able to make a stop during the neutralization without losing too much time. In the end, I first lost some time behind Barrichello and had to let Vettel pass as I was a lap down, losing all chance of finishing seventh, given that Sutil and Rosberg ahead of me were struggling with their tires. I would really like to have a problem-free race someday, as I haven’t had one recently, especially if you look at Monza. Today, finishing in the top 6 was clearly within my reach.

Stefano Domenicali – Director of Scuderia Ferrari

The result itself is not a surprise, but the performance clearly was, and it was a bad surprise. We were slower than expected and need to carefully analyze the reasons for this. It will be an interesting exercise for upcoming races and also for the future. Fernando did his best, staying in the fight for the podium until the end, and he is clearly in the race for the runner-up world champion spot. Felipe could also have been in contention with the race leaders, but his race was ruined due to a puncture caused by Hamilton: our Brazilian driver clearly had to deal with a lot of bad luck at the moment, and like in Monza, he had to fight his way back up, even though it wasn’t his fault. Now we need to roll up our sleeves and maintain our motivation level for the last races of the season, during which our goal will remain the same, to try to win races. At the same time, we must also learn as much as possible about the car’s behavior, to apply the lessons to the one currently under design.