Saturday: Alonso and Massa fall behind at Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 5th and 6th

We expected a difficult qualification, and that was the case. We saw at least eight cars being very competitive: two McLarens, two Force Indias, two Red Bulls, and two Lotuses, and consequently, just reaching Q3 was already a tough goal to achieve. We did it and we also managed to slightly improve the car’s performance in the last sector by working on tire pressure and the front wing.

We certainly didn’t have a perfect lap because we lost a handful of tenths in a few corners. The wind was stronger than this morning, and I think it surprised everyone. All things considered, being in sixth place isn’t so bad, far from it. It’s true that overtaking isn’t easy here, but tomorrow it might still rain, and we know that can change everything. Additionally, there is an unknown factor regarding tire behavior since yesterday, no one was really able to try them on a long run.

We will need to be super focused, especially in the way we manage the tires. In dry conditions during qualifying, we are not yet able to fight for the top positions, and we are well aware of that.

Usually, during the race, the situation improves, and we hope to finish in the top four or five. Our goal will be to score more points than our closest rival in the drivers’ standings, and we already know that we have a lead over him. Let’s wait and see the situation tomorrow night.

Felipe Massa – 8th and 7th

It was not an easy qualification for the team. Fernando and I struggled to achieve a perfect lap. This is evident in the fact that we were faster in Q2 than in Q3. It’s frustrating because I posted a good time in Q2, and I thought I could improve on it. But I was slower and suddenly experienced a loss of grip on the car. We need to analyze where this is coming from now.

Tomorrow, it will be very hot, and there is also a risk of rain, so we must anticipate all possible situations and analyze the behavior of the tires with the little information we have. From what we have seen, there is significant degradation of the Soft tires, which could worsen with a full fuel load.

We must wait until tomorrow and see what happens, the race will be long. But I think we still have a chance to fight for the podium, even though there’s very strong opposition around us.

The Hungaroring has been the scene of several significant milestones in my career. It started with a painfully missed victory in 2008 due to an engine failure while I was leading the race, followed a year later by my accident. As a result, a lot of people pay attention to me here and continue to support me. I am therefore doubly disappointed because I wanted to give them a good result this afternoon. We will try to do it tomorrow!