Saturday: The Ferrari is not competitive enough

Fernando Alonso – 8th and 7th:

During the three free practice sessions, we were always around that position, so it would have been too optimistic to expect more in Q1: a place between 5th and 8th was what we were aiming for before this session, and that’s where we are. I almost did the same lap time three times between Q2 and Q3, which means there was no more to extract. I am happy with the work done today because we extracted every ounce of performance from the car. The improvements made here have enhanced our performance, but others weren’t just sitting on their couches watching television… Usually, Saturday is the day when we struggle the most, while things get better on Sunday: let’s hope that’s the case this time. It’s also true that with tire degradation being so low, strategy choices are more limited, and so are the opportunities to gain positions. We know there are three races left and we need to score 14 more points than Vettel, and that’s our one and only goal.

Felipe Massa – 11th and 9th:

This has been a difficult and complicated weekend, at least until tonight. We were hoping to start a bit higher up, at least from the first three rows on the grid. In Q3, I opted for a different plan than my teammate, partly because I only had one set of new softs left. In hindsight, one could say it wasn’t the best choice, but it’s not as easy from the inside. I don’t have all the new updates brought here: it wasn’t really pleasant, but looking at Fernando’s result, it doesn’t make a difference. On the last lap, I had a bit of understeer in a corner which cost me a few hundredths: maybe I could have been 8th but it wouldn’t have changed much. Honestly, today it would have been difficult to do better. Hopefully for tomorrow, thanks to a race pace that is generally our strong point, we can climb back up. The circuit seems to suit some cars well: the McLarens weren’t as fast in the last three races, but here Hamilton easily took pole position.