For Ross Brawn, Ferrari was the best in the race in Melbourne

After Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa’s second and fourth places at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari approaches the Malaysian Grand Prix at the top of the constructors’ standings, a position the Italian team had not held for nearly three years since the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix.

If in Melbourne, both drivers could do nothing to prevent Kimi Räikkönen’s (Lotus) victory, it remains that Ross Brawn, director of the Mercedes AMG team, believes, in the columns of *Auto Motor und Sport*, that the F138 was the best single-seater in the race: « Overall, on all lap times done outside of traffic in Melbourne, Ferrari had the best race pace. If they had made two stops [instead of three], they would have won. »

Felipe Massa agrees with Ross Brawn: « In the race, our pace was very good and when the tires were in good condition we probably had the best pace on track. […] Kimi showed that he had a great car in the race. Our level of degradation is not as good [as that of Lotus] but it was reasonably good compared to other cars. It’s something we need to focus on and improve continuously. »

Fernando Alonso, who believes there is no possible comparison with Ferrari’s situation last year, is also not worried about the pace shown by the Lotus E21 in Melbourne: I think the pace of the Lotus was very good, but nothing we cannot do. They had a clear race, without traffic, and a very good strategy, but their pace was not out of reach, so I think in Malaysia we can fight more. […] We have a more or less competitive car. In Australia, everything worked well for us and we showed good potential, but it is true that Melbourne is a very strange and very atypical circuit, so we need to confirm this weekend.

Asked on the official Formula 1 website, Stefano Domenicali, director of the Ferrari team, confirms feeling confident about the management of the F138’s tires, relying notably on the decision made in Melbourne to anticipate Fernando Alonso’s second stop: « Of course, you have to be convinced that by stopping earlier, the set of tires you are going to use will last longer […]. If that’s not the case, then it’s better not to push your luck because you might pay dearly in the end. We anticipated Fernando’s stop because we thought we could afford it, that the tires would last until the very end. »

The Italian remains cautious, however, and believes, like Fernando Alonso, that the F138 must confirm its good form starting this weekend on the demanding Sepang circuit in Malaysia: « Obviously, we must be very cautious about this. Australia, under specific conditions, obviously went very well as our car performed well when it was not in traffic, but again, it is too early to make any predictions. In Malaysia, the conditions are very different, and we need to see how our car behaves. It’s a whole different story, and I’m sure we will have a more accurate picture of the strengths at play after four or five races. »