Ferrari, a Victory That Changes Nothing
Despite Fernando Alonso's somewhat surprising victory in Malaysia, Scuderia Ferrari remains realistic about its chances in the upcoming races.
Fernando Alonso’s victory in Malaysia brought smiles back to the Scuderia. However, the members of the Italian team are not deluding themselves; the F2012 is not yet on par with the competition, and there is still much work to be done to become a regular contender for victory.
« I think the pressure is on the team to try to make the car perform, » explains Pat Fry, technical director of Scuderia, who is currently working on a version B of the F2012 that should be completed for the first European Grand Prix of the season next May.
« In Malaysia, we had to do our best to make the most out of the situation. Under these circumstances, our car is not bad. But if we had a dry race, it would have been a completely different story. »
It is evident that the weather was a key factor in the success of Fernando Alonso, who managed to dodge the rain, unlike McLaren, for example, which had everything to secure a double or at least win the event from the start.
« These tires are not easy to understand. It’s only the second race with these new tires, and we don’t have much experience, » analyzes Martin Whitmarsh.
« But having a Ferrari victory is a good thing for the championship, it’s good for the sport and good for the audience. It wasn’t as good for us but it could have been worse. »
This victory is probably a bright spot in this early season, but it will likely be necessary to wait until Barcelona to hope to see Ferrari truly return to the fight for the top positions.
