Saturday: Alonso does not think victory is possible for Ferrari
Although the Spaniard must settle for fifth place on the starting grid, he does not consider himself badly off, since he is ahead of most of his direct rivals for the championship. The native of Oviedo does not believe in victory, however, just like Massa who failed to master the second sector and will therefore start only in 14th position.
Fernando Alonso – 1st and 6th [5th on the grid]:
The sixth place this afternoon falls within the average of our qualifications this season, which is 6.08 to be precise, so we shouldn’t be too surprised by this result. Generally, we are better on Sunday than on Saturday, so we can be reasonably confident about the race, especially in light of the fact that my closest rivals will start behind me, while another, Kimi [Räikkönen], won’t be too far ahead.
If we could replicate this result tomorrow, honestly, I would sign up immediately! Our goal is the podium, but I think the victory is out of our reach. It’s true that the race is very open, partly because overtaking is relatively easy on this track. The fact that we don’t have data on tire performance is not a handicap since we are all in the same situation. In any case, we know both compounds well, so I do not expect to have problems in this area. More significantly, the fact that we couldn’t drive much yesterday means we haven’t been able to optimize the various aspects of the car, but in this area, too, we are all in the same boat. In fact, it could explain the performance differences between drivers from the same team.
The innovations we have introduced have added an advantage in terms of top speed, which is a good point, especially for Monza where we will be racing in a few days. The championship is very tight, and if we do not do everything perfectly, we can find ourselves behind. That is why the smallest details matter, and we always try to be super focused on each of them.
Felipe Massa – 6th and 14th:
Already this morning, I had a lot of difficulties with the second sector and, after the third practice session, we made some changes to the car that unfortunately didn’t change much about the situation. I can’t properly negotiate this part of the track, I can feel the car sliding in the corners due to the lack of aerodynamic grip. Fernando also seemed to struggle in some parts of the circuit, but significantly less than me. In the first and third sectors, however, I was competitive, both in absolute terms and compared to my teammate.
Moreover, precisely because of my difficulties in sector 2, I was a bit worried about tire degradation, especially since we failed to collect data on their performance during long stints due to yesterday’s bad weather.
I certainly can’t be happy with my day, but the most important thing now is to focus on the race. Anything can still happen, especially on a circuit where overtaking is possible. Moreover, there are so many unknowns related to tire behavior that we cannot rule out surprises.
