Tyre comparison for Massa and Alonso
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro tackled Friday’s two free practice sessions concentrating entirely on preparation for Sunday’s race. Both Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso worked on finding the best set-up for the F10 and on a comparison of the two types of tyre Bridgestone has brought to this Grand Prix.
“This year, it’s impossible to work out exactly where we are compared to the others, after the first three hours of free practice,” said Stefano Domenicali. “And today, was no exception to that rule. For our part, we followed a very precise programme, aimed at acquiring data for Sunday’s race. Once again, it looks like being a weekend when everyone is very evenly matched, with at least four teams looking capable of fighting for the top places. The major unknown factor is the weather: since we have been in Sepang, not a single day has gone by without a storm putting in an appearance at the time when qualifying and the race are due to take place and if that was to be the case tomorrow and Sunday, any predictions could go out the window.”
Fernando Alonso: “It’s pointless to look for any significance in Friday’s classification: I’m seventh, but I could just as well have been second or last and it would not have changed anything. It all depends on the difference between the programmes adopted by the teams. From our side, we are reasonably happy with what we have done and first impressions would be that there is no reason to expect a very different picture to the one we saw in Bahrain and Australia, partly because, in the space of four days, nothing much is likely to have changed. As before, I expect Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes to be very competitive and we will have to do our best. It will not be easy, but there is no reason to be pessimistic. The temperatures of the engine, brakes, tyres and last but not least, the drivers, will be an important factor, which we will have to keep under control.”
Felipe Massa: “As usual, it’s difficult to draw any hurried conclusions after these three hours of free practice. We ran a different programme to the other main teams, therefore we can’t tell where we are compared with them. What is clear is that Red Bull and McLaren seem to be going very well: let’s wait and see what we can do in qualifying and especially in the race. We tried to find a good set-up and to understand the behaviour of the tyres. The car handles reasonably well. We just need to work a bit more to improve our outright performance, but we don’t have problems in any particular area. Once again, this time on a track with a variety of very quick corners, I’ve got a good feeling from the F10.”
Chris Dyer: “A few little technical problems prevented us from getting through every last item on our agenda, but nevertheless, we have gathered sufficient data to prepare as well as possible for qualifying and the race. We need to find a bit more performance for qualifying: that is what we will work on this afternoon and tomorrow morning, in the third free practice. The two types of Bridgestone tyre are pretty similar in terms of their level of degradation: the softer one seems quicker over the first lap, while over a distance, the situation is less clear. Obviously, the weather is the unknown factor that hangs over the rest of the weekend, with the possibility of rain playing a major role.”
F. Alonso 8° 1.35.959 20 7° 1.35.581 34 283
F. Massa 11° 1.36.451 22 15° 1.36.602 30 281
