The
two Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro cars will start the
Chinese Grand Prix from the second and fourth rows on
the grid, after Fernando Alonso secured third place and
Felipe Massa was seventh. “Overall, we can be pleased
with the way things went today,” said Stefano
Domenicali. “We knew the Red Bulls would be hard to beat
in qualifying and that was the case, but Fernando, who
did a great lap, managed to take third, which means he
is in with a fighting chance tomorrow. A shame for
Felipe, who did not manage to put together a perfect
lap, which sees him relegated to the fourth row: in a
championship in which at least four cars are all within
a few tenths, it only takes a small error to find
yourself in a position that does not match up to your
potential. Tomorrow’s race looks like being very hard to
predict. In this early part of the season, we have seen
that over a long run, the pace of the F10 is very
competitive and we will try and make the most of this
characteristic. Furthermore, the weather is forecast to
take a turn for the worse and we will probably need to
be ready to tackle what could be a wet race.”
Fernando Alonso:
“At the moment, I’d say this result is an accurate
reflection of our qualifying potential. The Red Bulls
seem unbeatable, but it’s definitely not a surprise,
because they are always strong on Saturday. I am happy
with the way things went: third is a good place to start
such a long race. We can do well and aim for a podium
finish. Today, I was more comfortable on the hard tyres,
as the soft ones were trickier to use. I am pleased with
the benefits of the new aerodynamic package in terms of
performance and it is thanks to these parts that I was
able to take part in the press conference for the top
three drivers. The team is working well, with a clear
philosophy that it’s in the race that the points are
given out, not in qualifying. If it rains, a lot will
depend on when the tyres will need to be changed:
getting it right, along with making the best tyre
choice, can bring you the win, but if you get it wrong,
you could lose everything. It’s hard to say where we are
in terms of being competitive in the wet, because during
winter testing, we were never all out on track under the
same conditions and on the same fuel loads. However, in
Australia, it went pretty well…”
Felipe Massa:
“I’m a bit disappointed because I wasn’t able to do a
clean lap on my last run in Q3. Unfortunately, I made a
mistake at the final corner which lost me at least a few
tenths. Up to that point, I was in line for a lap that
would have seen me into the top five, but when everyone
is so close, it takes very little to find yourself
dropping down the grid. It might rain tomorrow, so
there’s a chance it could shake up the order, but it is
clear that starting seventh, it will be hard to fight
for the top positions. In terms of race pace, we can
hold our own, as was the case in yesterday’s free
practice: the soft tyres seem to degrade more than the
hard but maybe with a bit more rubber on the track, the
situation could improve. It will be very important to
get a good start and make up some places immediately.”
Chris Dyer: “A
really great performance today from Fernando, who was
able to get the most out of the car, putting himself in
a strong position for tomorrow’s race. Some
disappointment for Felipe, who was not able to put
together his best lap in Q3, but there is still every
chance he can have a good race. There is a high
possibility of rain playing its part tomorrow: even if
we don’t encounter the same extreme conditions as last
year, it could definitely create some surprises and we
must be ready to tackle every eventuality.”
Qualifying details:
