Friday: Alonso happy, Räikkönen hindered at Ferrari
The first day of the 2014 Chinese Grand Prix saw Fernando Alonso stand out, with visibly effective improvements on his Ferrari, while Kimi Räikkönen was unable to drive during FP1 and had to shorten his program during FP2.
Fernando Alonso (No. 14) – 1st and 2nd
For the Spaniard, the day was good, and the developments made were up to expectations: We made some improvements here, which were already tested in Bahrain. Everything worked, and that’s the good news. Putting aside the performance of others, I am happy with what we did today. In every race, all teams bring something new, and we must try to take one more step forward if we want to be competitive.
Like all the drivers, he points out the challenge that the Chinese track will be and the race if the rain comes tomorrow: This circuit is particularly tough on the tires, especially with the soft ones which suffer from graining on long stints, so it will be important to work on the tire strategy for Sunday. If it rains tomorrow, we will definitely have less information for the race and we will have to rely on conjectures. Let’s hope we make the right choices.
Kimi Räikkönen (n°7) – no time and 7th
For *Iceman*, this Friday was not ideal, with the FP1 completely ruined: « It was a difficult day that started with a technical problem this morning, which meant I only did one installation lap. »
As a result, the program was shortened in the afternoon to focus on the essentials: « Once resolved, in the afternoon, we tried to make up for lost time by focusing mainly on the settings suited to this circuit, sacrificing a bit of our race simulation. »
The objective this Saturday will be to be at our best during FP3: « It’s difficult to give an overall assessment and I missed out a bit due to the lack of track time. Tonight, we will focus on data analysis […] and tomorrow, we will try to do as much as possible during the last free practice session to ensure the car is as ready as possible for qualifying and the race. »
