Friday: The Ferraris work hard for their ranking
With a morning in changing conditions, the Ferrari drivers were unable to accomplish all the desired work. Both drivers therefore shared the workload in the afternoon, but Fernando Alonso does not know which weather will be most beneficial for him during the race.
Fernando Alonso – 1st and 7th:
It was a good day, even though in the morning we, and in fact everyone, wasted time due to the rain and therefore in the afternoon we found ourselves with double the workload. Before drawing any conclusions, we must wait for the analysis of the data acquired this afternoon for both cars. Felipe and I tried different aerodynamic configurations, with more or less downforce, which will really be the key to this race, along with the weather.
As for today’s times, we are quite close to the favorites, but I am not sure about the weather forecasts I prefer. It’s true that with rain, the cards are shuffled, but in dry conditions, there are as many chances of gains as there are of losses. It will be important to have a good understanding of the tire behavior on the dry track, like understanding what happened to the Caterhams, to Vettel, and also to me mid-lap. I don’t think it’s a similar problem to the one encountered at Silverstone, maybe there’s a mix of circumstances, but in any case, it requires careful analysis.
Felipe Massa – 11th and 4th:
« Today, the weather change had a big impact on our work, as we spent a minimal amount of time on track during the first session. But if we want to see the glass half full, then the few laps we did this morning were important to give us an idea of the car’s behavior on a wet track, which is very useful here at Spa. In the afternoon, on dry ground, we followed our program, tested a few new parts, and both types of Pirelli tires. The results of the race simulation tell us that we have what we need to be on pace, and we will definitely do everything we can to fight with the championship leaders. »
