Sunday: the Ferrari drivers couldn’t do better

Fernando Alonso – 5th:

It was a close race, as was often the case this season. As usual this year, Red Bull and McLaren are clearly stronger in qualifying and then, on Sunday, it tightens up. Overall, it was an interesting race with a lot of action.

At the start, I struggled a bit to keep up with the leaders’ pace because after just a few laps, the super-soft tires were already producing a lot of understeer. Additionally, being in traffic all the time compromises tire performance a bit more because there’s less downforce.

When we switched to soft tires, the situation significantly improved, and with a clear track, I was able to push as hard as possible, but then it was too difficult to catch up to the small group fighting for the podium, which is why I said what I did on the radio.

We must try to improve our performance on Saturday, but we will not give up our goal of securing another victory in the remaining races. Furthermore, we will continue to work for next year by trying new things and, perhaps, taking some strategic risks.

Felipe Massa – 6th:

« I am not satisfied because small problems prevented me from achieving a better result. I got off to a good start and, in the first lap, I managed to gain a few places, then, after the first stop, I got back on track behind Rosberg and Button. This is mainly because my team was forced to keep me in my position because Michael was coming in, but also because the other two had stopped before me.

In the first part of the race, with the super-softs, I was struggling a bit to maintain the pace compared to the guys in front, but then, with the softs, we managed to be very fast. And then, after the second stop, I found myself behind a Toro Rosso and a Force India that were fighting each other, and I lost precious time, which allowed Fernando to get ahead of me.

Today, our level of performance was better than it was in qualifying, which has been a constant this year.

Now, we are heading to the Indian Grand Prix, a new destination in Formula One. I do not know the country and I am very curious to see what it looks like, but I think it has a lot in common with Brazil, because both countries are going through a period of solid growth.

Stefano Domenicali:

« After congratulating Sebastian Vettel last weekend at Suzuka, it would be fair and appropriate now to do the same for Red Bull, who secured the constructors’ title: they have the best car in the field, and this result is the logical consequence.

Logic also dictates our race results: we have the third-best car in terms of potential, and we finished in fifth and sixth places. Our race pace is definitely better than our absolute qualifying performance, which means we are almost always fighting for a podium place. However, when our drivers don’t start on one of the first two rows, it becomes difficult to aim for a top position.

Now, we have to try to finish our season in the best way possible because we firmly believe that we can achieve at least one more victory. It will be extremely difficult, given the form of our rivals, but we will try.