Friday: Massa and Ferrari remain on their guard
Despite an engine problem that significantly reduced Fernando Alonso's running time during Free Practice 1, the Ferrari drivers are enthusiastic about the circuit and quite satisfied with the work done. Best time of the afternoon session, Felipe Massa believes that it's necessary to wait and see what the Scuderia's rivals will do before positioning themselves.
Felipe Massa – 7th and 1st:
« It’s always nice to be in first place at the end of a workday, even if we know that Friday’s results are relative. Of course, it would be great to continue the weekend in the same position, but it will be difficult to do.
Today, we focused on finding the best setup for the car and on the behavior of the tires on this new track.
I like the track, it’s interesting, and there are corners where driving will make a difference. In some places, the track is very wide, making it possible to take different lines during the race, which should make overtaking easier.
The car seems competitive but we have to wait and see what the McLarens and Red Bulls are capable of tomorrow, as they have been very strong.
Regarding the tires, perhaps the hard ones are too hard for this track, and it might have been possible to use the same compound as we had in South Korea two weeks ago, because the track surface is very smooth.
Fernando Alonso – 24th and 3rd:
« I lost almost the entire morning session due to an engine problem with my car, but fortunately, I was able to catch up this afternoon since I could drive without any issues.
The priority today was to learn the circuit. Besides, given the track conditions, I don’t think I lost too much time compared to the others.
The first impressions are positive: the car seems to be performing well, and we hope it will continue like this. I like the track, even though it’s still very dirty. If you make the slightest off-track excursion, it’s like driving on ice: this could create problems during overtaking attempts on Sunday, but maybe by then the situation will have changed.
It’s very nice that the track is wide in certain corners and I think that will add to the spectacle because it means you can take different lines and I think even qualifying will be exciting given the high average speed, especially in the last sector.
