One car on the front row for Ferrari and it's not Massa
One car on the front row and one on the second: that's the outcome of the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying session for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Kimi Raikkonen posted the second fastest time in Q3, while Felipe Massa was third.
"All in all, this is a reasonable result. With both drivers on the front two rows, we have every chance of making the most of our situation in tomorrow's race," commented Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva, Stefano Domenicali. "Of course, in front of us, we have a competitor who has shown himself to be very strong all weekend. Tomorrow's race will be a very long one and there is also some doubt about the weather. At the risk of repeating myself, the crucial elements in getting the right result here will be the usual ones: first and foremost reliability, then tyre performance, the work of the team and drivers, strategy and car performance. If all these elements come through at their best, then we can do it."
Kimi Raikkonen: "Finally, things seemed to go right for me in qualifying. It's too late for the title, but we definitely learnt a lesson which will be useful for next year. All weekend we've struggled to find the right settings on the car, but then all the work we put in finally came good in Q3, when the car was pretty good. Certainly, even putting aside what the choices have been in terms of fuel loads, today it would have been difficult to beat the McLaren, but I am happy with the overall result for the team. We can count as usual on being more competitive in the race than in qualifying, so we can look to tomorrow with confidence, as we try to get the best possible result for both championships. The weather could be very changeable so we have to be ready to deal with every eventuality."
Felipe Massa: "I can't deny I'm a bit disappointed with this qualifying: starting from the front is always important even if the race is very long, but I will do my utmost to get a great result. Today, it was hard to find the right balance for the car, especially in Q3. Tomorrow, things could change as the car has shown it is good over a long run. We will have to attack to make up positions and we believe we have a good race strategy. Sure, our competitors went well and will be very competitive: let's hope we are more competitive than they are!"
Luca Baldisserri: "A very tough qualifying, up against a very strong rival. I would say the main problem we have at this track is the inconsistency of our car performance. We worked hard to get around it but so far, we have not managed to resolve the problem completely. We must try and do that for tomorrow's race, but we can take heart from the fact that, usually, over a long run, we have always gone better than in qualifying."
