Friday: A good start to the weekend for Ferrari
Both in the morning and in the afternoon, the Ferrari drivers found themselves in the top 5, which gives them hope for a good weekend. Fernando Alonso will be keen to do his best in front of his compatriots, especially after the disappointment of the last Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso – 1st and 2nd
The signs seen today are positive, given that we were fast this morning as well as this afternoon, and the car seems well-balanced with both low and heavy fuel loads. But it’s always premature to try to draw conclusions from a Friday when everything seems to be going well, because we have seen in the past how our competitors can take off in qualifying. We have a lot of data to analyze tonight, especially due to the rain this morning, which forced us to complete almost the entire scheduled program during the second session when the track was dry.
We definitely have a good feeling for this weekend, and even though we know it won’t be easy, we are confident we can fight with the best. I don’t expect any big surprises compared to Bahrain, and I think the leading group is now defined with Red Bull, Mercedes, ourselves, and Lotus. Of course, we have to see how much McLaren manages to improve while keeping an eye on Force India, which has shown to be very strong in qualifying and the race.
Felipe Massa – 2nd and 5th
« Everything went well today, even though the morning rain reduced the available time to test everything we had planned for the first session. We started this work as soon as the track dried and finished it during the afternoon session, paying close attention to the car’s behavior on the two tire compounds Pirelli brought to this track, especially the new hard tire. Even on long runs, the car seems competitive and makes me confident. So I hope we can continue this good momentum for the rest of the weekend. »
