Sunday: Ferrari Sees Red in Bahrain!
Ferrari made a good start to the Grand Prix in Bahrain, proving that the F138 could be fast. But after a few laps, the degradation of the rear tires proved too significant to make the strategy work. Not to mention the bad luck that struck Scuderia Ferrari on this Sunday—Alonso was a victim of a DRS problem and Felipe Massa suffered a puncture.
Fernando Alonso – 8th:
We really didn’t have much luck today and it’s such a shame because the weekend started well. We were competitive in free practice and qualifying, and we both thought we could have a good race. After the first few laps, I noticed that the rear tires were deteriorating and then I was informed over the radio that the DRS was no longer working. It wasn’t fixed properly during the first pit stop so I had to come in again. Then, the team asked me not to use it anymore, which obviously affected my race. I tried to climb up the ranks but it’s not easy to overtake without DRS. When you catch up to a group of cars, the tire degradation is severe and hard to control. I’m sure that without this tire issue, we could have finished higher.
The car was easy to drive and it’s really the best we’ve built in the last 4 years. But having a good race involves many factors, including having a bit of luck. I hope it will improve very quickly, maybe as soon as Barcelona for my home race. It will be very important to qualify well there because it won’t be easy to overtake on this track, so starting from the front will be crucial.
Felipe Massa – 15th:
« I was very unlucky during the race even though it’s true that anything can happen in F1, I can’t explain why so many things are negative. At the start, I lost ground due to a collision with Sutil and then I lost even more time because of pit stops to change tires, which ruined our chances of having a good race.
Initially, I suffered from understeering, but I don’t think that’s the cause of my problems, although we still need to understand what happened to wear out my tires so much. My first pit stop was due to severe tire degradation, and the second was due to a puncture. Now, we have to try and understand what happened and pay attention to it in the next race.
