Friday: Ferrari loses ground at Interlagos

Who would have thought? Ferrari faltered today in Brazil – the homeland of Felipe Massa – a key driver for the Italian team, here at home to support his second family. And yet, Räikkönen and Fisichella will need more to catch up with the leading pack. Tenths of a second are too much…

Ferrari is dead last in the day’s standings with times that have not improved since the morning, nor even due to a mechanical failure. The performance simply wasn’t there today, Friday, and the settings were difficult to find and especially to understand.

The hopes are, however, significant when noting that less than a second separates them from first place. The potential is thus great for the qualifications and the expected progress!

Giancarlo Fisichella – 15th and 20th:

18th and 20th are not results we can brag about, but to use a very common expression in football; ‘everything is decided by a hair’s breadth’. That was already the case this season. Especially since we are already working hard on the 2010 season.

« The second sector seems to be fatal for us. It needs a lot of support, and the F60 does not excel in this area. Tomorrow, it will be vital to be flawless and not make the slightest error to achieve a better qualification than our practice positions… a hundredth or even less will be enough to fail in Q1… »

Kimi Räikkönen – 10th and 18th:

« I would like to say that this Friday is no different from other Fridays of the season, especially in the last races. We are all very close to each other, and it only takes a small step forward to be first. However, we are headed for a difficult weekend, mainly because of the tires. They seem to have graining, and the car amplifies the phenomenon in the second sector. Nevertheless, I want to stay positive and think that when the track is rubbered in, the graining will lessen. »

Stefano Domenicali – Director:

« Clearly, we cannot be satisfied with the turn of events today. We must work hard to find and improve the settings with what we have at our disposal. However, we must moderate these results by the very close gaps in the rankings: the 20 drivers were within the same second in the FP2… It only takes a tiny bit to make the difference between the top and the bottom… we need to find that tiny bit… by ensuring that mechanics, drivers, and engineers do their best in their jobs. We must achieve a good result here, and it has to start tomorrow in qualifying! »