Ferrari disappointed with one-car qualifying
Only one F10 will start the Monaco Grand Prix from the grid tomorrow; that of Felipe Massa who set the fourth fastest time in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Fernando Alonso meanwhile sat in the pitbox while the team was working to repair his chassis.
Fernando Alonso took no part in this afternoon’s proceedings, because of the damage to his car sustained in this morning’s free practice. The chassis could not be repaired and the rules forbid the use of two of them on the same day.
“The way this day has ended is very regrettable,” said Stefano Domenicali. “We had the potential to do very well, but Fernando’s accident immediately diminished our chances. It’s a shame, as we had shown right from the start of this weekend that we were very competitive. Tomorrow, we will effectively run two races. Felipe is perfectly placed to get a good result, while Fernando, who starts from pit lane, will have a mountain to climb, a veritable Alpine peak. We will try and bring home as many points as possible and then we will see where we stand in both championships.”
Felipe Massa, chassis 284:
Q1 1st 1.14.757, 7 laps
Q2 2nd 1.14.405, 10 laps
Q3 4th 1.14.283, 6 laps
“Fourth is not a bad place. It will be a long race tomorrow with lots of unexpected situations and starting from the second row puts me in a strong position. Sure, I’d hoped to do a bit better because I was pleased with the handling of the car but, on my last lap in Q3, I was nearly always behind Rosberg and I was unable to improve my time. In all three sessions of qualifying, the time came at the end of the series of laps: I managed it in Q1 and Q2, but not in Q3. It’s a shame as I could have got onto the front row. I will try and pick up as many points as possible, because in this championship, it is vital to always finish in the top ten. Here, the F10 is easier to driver than at the last two races and the tyres are working very well, especially the harder ones.”
Fernando Alonso, chassis 283:
“This is the worst possible place to have to start from pit lane, given that overtaking is always problematic. It is a real shame, because the car was going very well. It was my mistake but, it was also very unlucky, because with an impact at ninety, you don’t normally write off a chassis! Unfortunately, the angle of impact with the barrier was such that the damage could not be repaired and the rules don’t let you use the spare chassis. So, I had to watch qualifying from the garage, along with the team, hoping to see Felipe end the Red Bull domination: it was very close and tomorrow we will do our best to bring home some points that can be useful for the classification. Do I think I’ve made too many mistakes this year? In Barcelona, where I am maybe under the most pressure, I did my best qualifying lap and had my best race. If after ten years in Formula 1, I still have to prove that I do not feel pressure, then it’s not worth talking about it anymore…”
Chris Dyer:
“It’s been a very difficult day for us. We had a car that had the potential to fight for pole on a difficult track like this one, but we were only able to do so with just one car. The rules do not allow the use of a second chassis on the same day and the damage to Fernando’s car, after his accident this morning, was too serious to be fixed. Felipe did very well in Q1 and Q2, but he did not manage to put together the perfect lap in Q3 and had to settle for fourth place, which is still good enough to have a strong race tomorrow. Fernando will start from pit lane: a few years ago, someone in a similar situation managed to finish fifth in a Ferrari, so we hope we can improve on that performance!”
Weather: air temperature 21 °C, track temperature 33/34 °C. Cloudy.
