12/09/2009
NEWS STORY
One Ferrari on the second row and the other on the seventh: that was the outcome of qualifying for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, with Kimi Raikkonen starting from third place and Giancarlo Fisichella from fourteenth.
Stefano Domenicali: Given how the day started, we can be reasonably happy with how things turned out. I am very happy for Kimi, who produced an amazing performance. Giancarlo did the best he could given the circumstances: he was unable to prepare for qualifying as well as possible during FP3, which was a significant handicap on his Ferrari debut. Tomorrow’s race will be tough and difficult, fighting against very strong opposition, which now includes Force India, hardly a surprise any more. The choice of strategies could be different from one driver to the next, so it will be vital to fully exploit every opportunity. Our aim is to pick up as many points as possible to consolidate our third place in the Constructors’ classification, but it would be very nice to produce a crowd pleasing result in front of all our fans at this our home race.
Giancarlo Fisichella: Overall, I am reasonably happy, even if I’m aware that a fourteenth place on the grid is not up to the Ferrari standard. Yesterday, I drove the F60 for the first time and this morning, because of a mistake by me, I lost valuable time to prepare for qualifying, as I crashed into the barriers. I want to thank all the mechanics who did a fantastic job of rebuilding the car for qualifying. I was a bit tense before the session, as I knew I didn’t yet have enough confidence in the car. Unfortunately, in Q2, I never managed to put together a perfect lap and so I couldn’t make it through to Q3. It’s a shame, as the potential was there, but tomorrow there is still time to have a good race nevertheless. Maybe, I can try and immediately make up some places at the start thanks to the KERS.
Kimi Raikkonen: That was one of my best qualifying sessions of the year and we hope that tomorrow things can go even better. I am pleased with this result, for the team and for our fans. The car is not yet perfect, but it’s good all the same. We knew the hardest task would come in Q2 as after that, the car is always very competitive with a race fuel load on board: all the same, it was a pleasant surprise to see how it handled in the final part. I am confident for tomorrow: at the start it won’t be as easy to make up a lot of places as it was at Spa, because there are other cars fitted with KERS near me, but if everything goes well, we can fight for a place on the podium.
Chris Dyer: First of all, I want to compliment Giancarlo. After this morning’s accident, the task facing him in qualifying was not an easy one and managing to take fourteenth place despite this is a good way to start his career with Ferrari. Compliments also go to all the mechanics who did a great job of repairing the car in a very short space of time. Kimi had a great qualifying, especially in Q3. Possibly, other drivers behind him have more fuel and that means we will try and make the most of the first stages of the race to make up ground. Yesterday, we saw that we have a good race pace and I think we can fight for a place on the podium.