Friday: Scuderia Ferrari in anticipation

Fernando Alonso – 11th and 5th:

« It was a pretty good day. I love driving at Suzuka because it’s a very beautiful circuit where I enjoy racing and which, with its features and the fast Esses, reminds me a lot of Spa. Overall, the feeling is good, and I don’t think the high temperatures will be a problem for the tires. We’ve raced a lot in hot conditions, and not too long ago, considering Singapore was two weeks ago, and as we did there, we’ll have to learn to manage [the tires], which will be the case for everyone. It’s hard to say if we’ll be as competitive here as in Silverstone: that was three months ago, and we don’t know exactly how our rivals’ cars have developed compared to ours. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow because on Saturday, usually, the new things come out of the box. As for the small improvements we’ve brought here, there isn’t much to say, and we’ll have to spend a bit of time observing their behavior. »

Felipe Massa – 7th and 9th:

Overall, it’s been a positive day, during which we completed our entire program. As usual on Fridays, we tried both types of Pirelli tires. It is difficult to say precisely where we stand: what is certain is that many of our rivals seem to be competitive, but as usual, we must wait until tomorrow to have a clearer picture of the situation. This afternoon, we did a decent long run at the end of which we noticed quite significant tire degradation. It will be difficult to decide which will be the best strategy. I could describe the car’s balance as average: even if we haven’t found the pace of the others, there is still a lot to improve, and we must also take into account the fact that the track changes a lot from one day to the next. I hope the results will come tomorrow because we have the potential to do well.