Friday: Ferrari lacks competitiveness in Abu Dhabi
The Ferrari drivers clearly did not show themselves to their advantage today for the first day of testing in Abu Dhabi. Even though Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso managed to finish in the top 10 during the second practice session, there is not much joy in the Red camp, but both men remain convinced they can do better for tomorrow and Sunday.
Fernando Alonso – 12th and 8th:
« Compared to other Fridays, today we were less competitive than usual, and we now need to find out if this is due to the circuit not suiting our car or if it’s a setup issue. The tires are performing better here than in India, where they suffered a lot of blistering on fast corners, whereas here they are better, especially at night when the temperature drops. Unfortunately, in terms of performance, we are behind our rivals for the second place in the constructors’ championship. Compared to the beginning of the season, they have improved and will be tough to beat, but tomorrow we will make some changes and do our best because we have no intention of giving up our fight. »
Felipe Massa – 17th and 10th:
Today, we completed the planned program for the day, focusing on the settings and behavior of the two Pirelli compounds. At the moment, I am not thrilled with the car’s performance because we are not as competitive as expected. On this circuit, we ended up driving during the day under the sun, with high temperatures, and the conditions completely changed in the evening. In this situation, it’s not easy to understand which direction to go. We now need to work on improving the car’s performance for tomorrow’s qualifying, which we know won’t be easy, but we will do our best.
