Saturday: Alonso and Ferrari didn’t hope for so much
While he will start in third position for his home Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso is unsure of what to make of his performance, even though he assures that the new updates brought by Ferrari have produced the expected results. Stuck in traffic during Q2, Felipe Massa will be starting from a distant 17th place.
Fernando Alonso – 6th and 2nd [after Lewis Hamilton’s demotion]:
This third place is not what we expected. We were aiming to take a step forward that would allow us to qualify for Q3 more easily than in the first races of the season, and we achieved that. But we certainly didn’t expect to be so well placed on the grid. I don’t know if this position really reflects the performance of our car – it’s definitely not normal to have a Red Bull and a McLaren eliminated in Q1, and for the other Red Bull to run out of new soft tires in Q3 – but what is certain is that the new parts we brought allowed us to take a step in the right direction. Of course, it’s not yet enough to compete at the very top level.
It’s a good starting point, but it’s on Sunday that we score the points. We will try to get a good start even though some of our championship rivals will be starting behind us, and we need to try to exploit that to the fullest.
The performance of the tires will be a critical factor: we must be cautious because the temperature forecasts are different from today and that could cause some surprises.
Running in front of my audience has always given me more motivation. »
Felipe Massa – 11th and 16th [after Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification]:
« When the qualifications are as tight as this, it’s vital to have all the parameters aligned and a clear field, which I never had the chance to have. On my second run in Q2, I encountered at least 7 or 8 cars warming up their tires, and the time I lost behind them cost me dearly.
It’s really a shame to start from 17th place when the car has shown that it has taken a step forward in terms of performance, as demonstrated by Fernando’s result. The new aerodynamic elements introduced on the F2012 seem to have worked well; we have a bit more aerodynamic downforce and less drag, but we are well aware that there is still much to be done.
Tomorrow, on a track that is so hard on tires, strategy will be crucial: I hope I can score points.
