Saturday: Alonso and Massa will focus on the race at Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 7th and 5th:

« We tried to make the best out of what we had, but there was no way to be ahead of the Red Bulls and McLarens. In the end, fifth place isn’t so bad because it would have been easy to do worse and finish further back if something bad had happened to us. Finishing ahead of Red Bull is our goal, but today it was impossible to fight with them, at least in qualifying. When we had a similar car, it was possible to fight with Vettel and we even got ahead of them, but now we are battling against Newey and, at the moment, we cannot match him.

We have made updates here that worked as we hoped, but others have also improved over the last two weeks. It’s up to us to do something more significant for the last three races.

I’m not demotivated because I know things can change very quickly and the joys of Saturday can easily turn into Sunday’s sadness. We must try to gain positions in the first round and put pressure on our main rivals, making sure they don’t have an easy race. I hope I can soon have a more competitive car to try to fight them on equal terms on Saturday, not just Sunday. But I’m not the type to give up, it’s an undeniable advantage.

Felipe Massa – 11th and 6th:

« I am quite satisfied with sixth place, even though a mistake at the sixth corner on my last run prevented me from qualifying better. In qualifying, the Red Bulls are faster, while the McLarens are just ahead of us, then we follow behind. In the race, things are a bit different and we hope we can fight with those four cars for the top spots. There are many key points for tomorrow: the start, strategy, tire wear, and avoiding mistakes. We will have to be very focused because it will be a very long race. Today, it was not easy to do a perfect lap, partly because the track surface was still very slippery. We brought a few updates here that seem to work, but maybe it’s not enough to be ahead of our closest rivals. »