Sunday: Alonso secures a podium for Ferrari
Fernando Alonso delivered one of the best performances this Sunday at Spa. Starting from 9th, he managed to climb to second place, securing a podium for his team. For Massa, the race was a bit more challenging, especially with technical issues, but the Brazilian still finished 7th. At Ferrari, there is talk of a resurgence in competitiveness.
Fernando Alonso – 2nd:
Today’s result shows that the outcome of the qualifications has little to do with Sunday’s result, even though on one hand, I think even if I had started from pole, I would have still finished second because Vettel was faster at the start. We immediately gained a few places by overtaking Button first, then Rosberg and Hamilton, so I found myself six seconds behind Vettel, but if you look at the final gap of 16 seconds, we can only congratulate him and his team. The car worked well in all conditions, with a full fuel load at the start, then with a lighter one at the end and, to top it off, the extra speed we had allowed me to overtake without having to do too many laps. We know we’ve made a step forward and regained some of the competitiveness we had lost in recent races. In Monza and Singapore, we will see the next stages of this process. This makes us optimistic for the upcoming races, because our goal remains the same, namely, to fight for the title until the end.
Felipe Massa – 7th:
« It was a difficult race for me from the very first laps, because after managing an overtaking at the start, I then had to slow down and drop four or five places back to avoid a collision with Grosjean at the exit of the first corner. From there, things became complicated because for a few laps, I had a problem with the steering wheel related to the functioning of the KERS, and I wasn’t able to communicate well with the team. When everything returned to normal, it wasn’t easy to catch up, because even though I moved up the first pit stop which allowed me to overtake several cars, the pace wasn’t good. In the last stint with the hard tires, the car was very competitive, and I managed to gain some important places. I can’t be happy with seventh place, because today, our car deserved better, but the fact that we are more competitive than in the last races makes me think that we are working in the right direction, and we can hope to make progress throughout the second half of the season. »
