Saturday: Predictable result for Alonso and Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 5th and 5th:

« My subscription to the fifth position has been renewed for an additional Saturday! However, this time, securing my usual spot on the starting grid was a bit more challenging than usual. We are not really thrilled with the balance of the car and were expecting a very competitive Mercedes. Nonetheless, in Q3, we were closer to the McLarens than we expected, while the first Mercedes was relegated a few tenths behind. This means we managed to extract a bit more than what our potential suggests. I certainly can’t say that the progression of the qualification was very surprising.

If it really rains tomorrow, it will be a very exciting and open race: no one really knows what their level of competitiveness in the rain might be, and then it will only take a small detail – one more or one less lap on the track as conditions change – to overturn a situation that seemed set in stone.

It is true that for us, our difficulty in bringing the tires up to temperature is more pronounced in the rain, but it is also true that when the track dries, we are faster than our rivals: the different stages of the race at Silverstone demonstrated this. However, if the race is contested in dry conditions, then perhaps there will be many stops because the tires seemed to degrade more today than yesterday.

If you ask me for the ideal recipe for the last race of the year, it would be to see the top four stop, leaving Felipe and me ahead of the others.

Felipe Massa – 10th and 7th:

I expected more from this last qualifying session of the year and I definitely cannot be satisfied with this seventh place. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the right balance throughout the weekend. In some corners, the front would lock up, and in the slowest corners, I suffered from understeer, in others, I lacked traction: the car was therefore quite difficult to drive.

In addition to that, it was a rather complicated day. I had to use two sets of soft tires in Q2 and I paid for it in Q3 when I could only do one stint.

Tomorrow, it is supposed to rain, so the situation may change. It’s difficult to make predictions: this year, in the wet, sometimes we have seen very strong Red Bulls, other times it was the McLarens that were very fast, but it is also true that anything can happen in these conditions. The important thing is to be prepared for all situations.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s always a fantastic feeling to drive on this circuit in front of an incredible crowd of compatriots: I will try everything to do well and finally get on the podium to end such a difficult year. It would be a great way to finish my tenth season in Formula One and to celebrate in the best way my hundredth race for Scuderia Ferrari.

Stefano Domenicali:

« If the data and equations are still the same, there is no reason for them to give different results! We stopped developing this car several months ago and everything we do now is directed towards next year.

In the meantime, we are trying to make the most of what we have in order to finish this season in the best possible way. The result is that today it was difficult to achieve anything more than fifth place, don’t you think? Fernando gave everything in his last lap and got very close to the McLarens. Felipe probably paid the price for having only one set of new soft tires to use in Q3: if he had another one, he would also have managed to reach the third row.

We approach the final race of a very long championship in the same way we have approached the others, with focus and determination to achieve the best possible result.

The weather forecasts for tomorrow indicate significant chances of rain: in this case, anything can happen, and it will be crucial to respond correctly to every opportunity that might arise.