Friday: Ferrari and Alonso hope for race performance

Felipe Massa – 10th and 5th

« Today, things didn’t go too badly, everything worked as it should have, and I had a good feeling in the car. This morning, I couldn’t do much running because I had a puncture on the front left tire, but then in the afternoon, we made up for the lost time, successfully completing the entire test program. The car works well on both compounds, although with the super softs we experienced particularly significant degradation. On the first lap with the new tires, you gain a lot at the start, but then you lose a lot on the long stints, maybe there’s more graining than with the mediums. It’s only Friday, and we still need to understand where we stand compared to our rivals. Although we’ve seen that Mercedes and Red Bull are very strong, I hope to have a more competitive car than in recent races, which would allow me to fight. »

Fernando Alonso – 6th and 10th

The impressions are those of a usual Friday, and to say more, we have to wait until tomorrow and see how the qualifications will go. On this track too, it’s aerodynamics that make the difference, and for this reason, I don’t expect many surprises compared to the last Grand Prix. The timing sheet follows the same order, more or less, as the previous races, and there’s every chance that here again, we might struggle during the race. The difference between the two compounds is not as evident as in Singapore, but the super softs do have significant degradation, and we’ll need to see how the track evolution affects their behavior. It won’t be easy for us in terms of performance, but we know that aside from that, we can do well on Sunday. Now, we must try to make the most of what we have and do everything right tomorrow and during the race.