Saturday: Ferrari relies on the potential of its single-seater in the race
While the Ferrari appeared among the fastest single-seaters during the free practice 3, the qualifying sessions delivered a completely different verdict. Fernando Alonso will start in fifth place, while Felipe Massa, penalized for obstructing Mark Webber, will start 9th.
Fernando Alonso – 6th and 5th:
« It’s a well-known fact that Saturday afternoons are our weakness, and fifth place is more or less what we expected. We knew that Red Bull and Mercedes would both be very strong, but while it’s true that we need to start taking points from Vettel, we aren’t scared of the Mercedes, which usually have significant tire degradation. The team and I are optimistic for tomorrow given that our race pace is good and we usually perform better on Sundays. We’ll start from the clean side and hope this allows us to get a good start off the grid, as here we need to gain several places at the start and have some clear laps in the early or mid-race. We will also have to defend against Räikkönen, as he has always been very good in the race and the Lotus doesn’t seem to suffer too much with its front tires. As usual this season, it will be very important to choose the right strategy, as there is only one lap of difference in degradation between the two types of tires. »
Felipe Massa – 1st and 6th [9th on the grid]:
I can’t say that I am satisfied with the result, given that I was hoping for more after the times I did this morning. Unfortunately, in the third sector, I had a slight understeer that cost me time, but anyway, I feel very confident because our car seems competitive. Now, we need to focus on tomorrow’s race because it will be long and anything can happen.
Regarding the decision of the stewards about what happened with Webber in Q2, it was not my intention to be on his trajectory, and honestly, I don’t remember affecting his qualifying. When I saw him in the mirrors, I thought I would reach the corner before letting him pass, which was the only way to do so in such a narrow section. Besides, he was on worn tires at that moment and I don’t think he was doing a fast lap. I’m not surprised by the pace of the Mercedes, considering they were already strong here during winter testing and their car is very good in qualifying. The result shows that once again, on Saturdays, our rivals prefer to have a rather conservative approach in the morning before revealing their true potential in the afternoon.
