Friday: Alonso and Ferrari hope for rain
Classic day for Ferrari with the evaluation of parts for 2012 in the morning and preparations for the rest of the weekend in the afternoon. However, the Ferrari drivers are not yet completely satisfied with the balance of their cars and don't see themselves fighting for more than a podium, unless rain changes things.
Fernando Alonso – 6th and 4th:
« It has not been an easy day because we still haven’t managed to find the right balance on the car. Therefore, we must wait to see if and by how much we can improve its behavior and therefore how competitive we will be in qualifying tomorrow afternoon. In particular, I am not satisfied with the rear behavior of the car.
Regarding the engine, these things happen, and it didn’t take too much of my time, less in any case than what I had lost in India. We will have to wait for the engine to return to Maranello, where it will be dismantled, and where the engineers will have a better idea of the nature of the problem. However, this will not cause any issues for the qualifications or the race because we will install another one.
Honestly, given what we saw today, I think we are a little less competitive on dry conditions than usual: I don’t think I can fight with the Red Bull and McLaren, and on top of that, one of the Mercedes is very fast. However, there is a strong chance of rain, so anything can happen. If I could choose today, I would opt for a race in the rain because under normal conditions, we can only hope for fifth place in qualifying and fight for a podium spot in the race.
Felipe Massa – 5th and 6th:
« I am very happy to be racing here, in my country, Brazil. I am also glad that this is the last race of a season that has been far from motivating: if I had to give myself a score out of ten, I think it would be around five.
Starting from Monday, we will be able to fully focus on 2012: we need to improve in every area but above all on the aerodynamics front, which, in current F1, is the part of a car’s design that has the most impact. However, we must not overlook the small details because it is the little things that can lead to a perfect season.
Today, lap times were slower than last year: maybe the tires brought here are harder than the Bridgestones and the temperatures are higher. We tried a lot of different settings, and now we need to put everything together to try to be as ready as possible for qualifying and especially for the race.
Regarding the rain, we must be ready to seize any opportunity. We have nothing new, but I really hope that we can do a good job and finish the season on a high note. A podium would be fantastic and it would give me even more motivation for next season.
