Friday: The Ferraris are lacking a bit of performance
This first day of the Singapore Grand Prix proved to be mixed for Ferrari: in addition to new parts that may not be at the expected level, Fernando Alonso feels that his car is not the most competitive around the Marina Bay circuit, while Felipe Massa is experiencing difficulties with tires that degrade too much.
Fernando Alonso – 4th and 3rd:
« We tried various new parts on the car: some seem positive, others less so, but in this case, we need to spend a bit more time on them to make them as developed as possible. Overall, I would say today was a positive day, even though the first impression is that we are not as competitive as we were in Monza two weeks ago. We are lacking a bit of performance on tracks like this one, where we need maximum downforce.
From what we have seen today, there is a significant difference between the two types of tires, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to have a clear picture of the situation on this side. Perhaps this difference has been accentuated by the evolution of the track surface. Testing the tires over long distances is very complicated on circuits like this one because of the traffic, therefore it is difficult to establish a direct comparison with our competitors. I am almost sure that on Sunday, we will observe significant degradation, and it will be important to control it as best as possible.
Felipe Massa – 16th and 9th:
« It hasn’t been an easy day for me. The car hasn’t been good all day, and I’ve particularly struggled with tire degradation in both sessions. At the end of the second session, we found something that wasn’t working properly, but that doesn’t explain all my problems. We need to find out what happened to fix it for the rest of the weekend. We have reasonably clear ideas on the direction to take regarding the setup: one thing is for sure, there is a lot of work to do. »
