A combination of low downforce requirement, heavy braking and the need for good traction out of the slower corners are all key ingredients to the mix that the engineers study to put together the best possible set-up. The drivers have to deal with all of this, plus the ever present challenge of driving a narrow circuit where the safety walls are often as close as in Monaco. Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso took turns, morning and afternoon respectively, to evaluate two types of rear wing, while also studying brakes and the more usual tyre comparison. Possibly because much of the track has been resurfaced since Formula 1 last visited Canada in 2008, all drivers discovered that the tyres were degrading more than expected, but adding to the fascination of this circuit, it is also a fact that the track surface changes drastically from one day to the next.

The overall result for the Scuderia was encouraging, or at least more promising than at the last race in Istanbul, as Fernando Alonso ended the day second fastest behind the Red Bull car of Sebastian Vettel, while Felipe Massa was fifth. Third quickest was the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, followed by the second Red Bull of Mark Webber, while Adrian Sutil completed the top six for Force India. After a wet Thursday, the clouds looked threatening on Friday morning, but both sessions were dry throughout and the forecast for today is for more sunshine and higher temperatures.

“This weekend has got off on the right foot for us, as we have worked well and shown that we are more competitive than in Turkey two weeks ago,” commented Stefano Domenicali after the two sessions yesterday. “Having said that, we are well aware that Friday’s times do not mean much because there are so many unknown factors that have an influence on them. Now we face an afternoon and a night of work analysing all the data we have gathered. Then, starting with tomorrow’s qualifying we will try and confirm the step forward that we have glimpsed today.”

Fernando Alonso: “Friday’s results tell us little. In the second session in Turkey, we had not done too badly and then everyone saw what happened in qualifying and the race. We must keep trying our best and then let’s see what we can do. A podium, a place in the points, a win: the final result depends on so many factors and the important thing is to concentrate on our job. We worked on the brakes which have a very hard time here and on various set-ups on the car as well as different downforce levels: we still have a few more ideas to try tomorrow morning before taking a final decision. The soft tyre degrades very easily, but today is only Friday and the track conditions will change a lot between now and Sunday. In Bahrain, after the first day, we were all concerned, but then we all pitted around lap 20 without having any problems. We must try and have a good race, always keeping in mind that our final goal is the world title.”

Felipe Massa: “It was not an easy day, especially in terms of the degradation on the rear tyres, a factor which could play a decisive role in Sunday’s race. From what we have seen today, our car seems to be more competitive than in the previous race: the gap to the strongest teams like Red Bull and McLaren appears to be smaller and I really hope we can get back to fighting for the top places. One of the most complicated aspects is finding the right compromise between the top speed you need on the straights and the stability for traction and braking. We have a few ideas in mind which I hope can take us in the right direction.”

Chris Dyer: “As is always the case on a Friday, we had a packed work programme, with various new elements to experiment with, in addition to the normal work of fine tuning the set-up and comparing the two types of tyre that Bridgestone has brought here. There were a few very minor problems that made the day more complicated, but all the same, we managed to get through the planned schedule. From what we have seen today, the tyres seem to work well over a short distance, while on the longer runs the softer compound appears to degrade very quickly, a situation which seems to be affecting everyone, not just us: we will see how the track conditions evolve tomorrow. This circuit is very tough on brakes: from our point of view, the situation seems to be under control.”

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