Saturday: Räikkönen satisfied, Alonso troubled by a mechanical issue for Ferrari
If Kimi Räikkönen is now comfortable with his F14T, this wasn't the case for Alonso, who struggled during Q3. Both Ferrari drivers expect an intense battle behind the untouchable Mercedes.
Kimi Räikkönen – 10th and 6th [5th on the grid]
The Finnish driver was satisfied after the qualifying session; he seems to have found his footing with his Ferrari, now much more comfortable: « I am reasonably satisfied with my qualification. Until this morning, I did not feel completely at ease in the car. We are improving in all areas, on the engine, data recovery, electronics. The new parts have allowed me to better understand the behavior of the front end. Of course, we are not yet where we want to be, but I think we are on the right track. We have the right people to give us every chance to keep moving forward. »
He believes he can play for big points: « It is difficult to predict tomorrow’s race, based on the race simulations carried out yesterday, I was struggling with the hard tires while with the soft tires the balance was much better. We know we cannot fight against the Mercedes, but today’s results give me more confidence than in the previous race. I will do my best to achieve a good result here. »
Fernando Alonso – 7th and 10th [9th on the grid]
Victim of a lack of power during Q3, the double Spanish world champion could do no better than the tenth time in Q3. He expects an interesting race full of surprises: « We did our best as always and now we have to wait for the car to return from Parc Fermé to understand why there was a lack of power during Q3. During winter testing here, we had already noted that the circuit was particularly suited to cars equipped with a Mercedes engine because the long straights allow for full use of the engine’s power. But given our good performances during free practice as well as in Q1 and Q2, we might have hoped for better.
Now we must focus solely on tomorrow’s race, especially at the start because we will be on the clean side of the track following Ricciardo’s penalty. We will need to work on the best strategy, choosing between two or three stops. Tire behavior will be very important, and I think that with the low temperatures observed today, the hard tires could provide some surprises.
