Friday: Positive start to the weekend for Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 3rd and 2nd

« Above all, thank you all for thinking of my thirtieth birthday, especially Bernie who came to wish me well with you during the press conference. It’s great to celebrate it here with Ferrari, a team with which I will definitely be until I’m 35.

We completed the scheduled program, and it’s always positive to start a race weekend like this. Now, we will analyze all the collected data and make the best choices for qualifying and the race.

I am happy to have been able to drive so much, particularly from the point of view of assessing tire degradation, which is always a significant factor on a circuit like this.

The track is still very dirty, as is the norm for a Friday at the Hungaroring. Nevertheless, we know that it will improve day by day, and by Sunday, the track will have rubbered in.

We saw that the McLarens looked very strong, as was the case last week. Now we need to improve the car, especially in the 3rd sector of the circuit where we seem to struggle more than the others.

Felipe Massa – 6th and 6th

We accomplished a lot of work, particularly in comparing the two types of Pirelli tires. The first piece of information is that the degradation is significant, both with the soft and super soft tires, which will be a decisive factor in terms of strategy.

I think we will witness a close fight between the usual three teams: Red Bull, McLaren, and ourselves.

It won’t be easy to secure a good position on the grid, but it will be very important to achieve it because I think that despite everything, overtaking on this track remains difficult.

I couldn’t do a quick lap on my first run on super soft tires because I went wide in turn 9, so today’s times don’t fully represent my potential: the tires degrade easily, so you have to do your best right away.

I told Fernando this morning that he was getting old like me. Joking aside, it’s an important day for him, so he receives all my best wishes again.