Saturday: Ferrari lying in wait with Alonso, Räikkönen lagging behind
The Scuderia made gains on the Chinese track. Fernando Alonso is on the third row just behind the leaders. Kimi Räikkönen wasn't able to do as much testing as planned, and he will try to move up through the field.
Fernando Alonso (No. 14) – no time and 5th
The Spaniard is pleased to have qualified well in difficult conditions: When it rains, you never know what’s going to happen since track conditions can worsen from lap to lap, and that’s why I’m very satisfied with how the qualifications went. Fifth place means I’ll be able to start the race in the leading group, and if I can stay among the leaders, we can finish close to the podium.
He thinks the Scuderia is on the right track: « Here in China, we have taken a few steps forward; the car performed well in all areas and it is more aerodynamically efficient, thanks to the small adjustments we introduced here, and we have more power, thanks to the settings we made on the power unit. »
Kimi Räikkönen (No. 7) – 5th and 11th
The Finnish driver has encountered a number of problems since the beginning of the weekend, even though he feels more comfortable in the car. The lack of track time prevented him from making it into the top 10: « The car’s handling was inconsistent, it was stable in some sectors and much less so in others. I had balance issues and it affected my performance. It’s too early to say what happened but the time lost yesterday didn’t help. Now I want to focus on tomorrow’s race and do my best to finish this weekend with a good result. »
