15/03/2008
NEWS STORY
One driver on the second row and the other on the eighth: these are the positions the two Ferraris will occupy on the grid for tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa finished qualifying in fourth spot, while Kimi Raikkonen, sixth in Q1, was unable to return to the pits at the end of his timed run because of a problem with the electronic fuel pump, which forced him to stop a few metres from the start of pit lane. "This is definitely not the result we were expecting," commented Stefano Domenicali. "We have to work out exactly what caused Kimi's car to stop and tomorrow he will have a hard fight all through the race to move up the order. Starting from the second row, Felipe will be able to show what he can do in a race in which reliability and strategy will as usual play a key role."
Felipe Massa: "I failed to get the most out of my final set of tyres for the day, because I had traffic on my out-lap and this meant I was unable to get the tyres up to temperature. I am happy with the handling of the car, which is well balanced and we know we can run at a good race pace. It will be a very tough race, especially as we can expect high temperatures. Anything can happen and I think I can fight for the very top places."
Kimi Raikkonen: "Clearly I am disappointed. A few corners from the end of my in-lap, I had a problem with the electronic fuel pump which forced me to stop near the pit lane and so it was impossible for me to get back to the garage to try and fix the problem. These things happen, but it's definitely not the best way to start the season. Now we must try to do our best to pick up some points tomorrow, because it is important to score something in every race."
Luca Baldisserri: "I got the impression I was watching a replay of last year's qualifying, but an even worse version. We have a car on the second row and one which did not manage to take part in the second session because of an electrical fuel pump problem. We have to look at the data and the components to find out exactly what happened. As for the way the final session went, we knew from this winter that we would struggle a bit to do quick times over a single lap and that difficulty cropped up this afternoon. However, we are competitive in terms of race pace and so we can be reasonably confident about tomorrow, even if Kimi clearly faces an uphill struggle, given his grid position."