17/03/2013
NEWS STORY
Thirty points in the bag for Scuderia Ferrari after the Australian Grand Prix, thanks to a second place for Fernando Alonso and a fourth for Felipe Massa. Both drivers made three stops, starting on the Supersoft tyres before using the Medium for the rest of the race.
Stefano Domenicali: First of all, I wish to congratulate the winner. After winter testing, we had said we were aiming for a podium in Australia and I am pleased we have reached this first objective. This is only the first of nineteen races and we are happy to see Scuderia Ferrari at the top of the Constructors' classification: it is an encouraging start on which we must continue to build our Championship and today's result should serve as a motivational push for all of us, both here at the track and back home in Maranello. Reliability, pit stops and strategy are as ever the key factors, but this weekend has thrown up other interesting topics on which to reflect, relative to our outright performance level compared to the competition.
Fernando Alonso: We can claim to have started this season on the right foot, immediately in the fight with the best. Along with the results from winter testing, it is a very encouraging sign that we managed to get the most out of a weekend that was full of unknown factors, both in qualifying and the race. I think the three stop strategy was the right one: with the degradation we had, it would have been impossible to manage on one less and bringing forward the second one by a few laps meant I was able to pass Vettel and Sutil. Finishing ahead of the Red Bull tastes like a win, even if we know that despite today's race result, they are still the quickest. Now we can expect another weekend with very changeable weather and one that also puts a lot of stress on the cars from a mechanical point of view and on the drivers, from a physical one. But we can tackle it calmly on the back of this good result.
Felipe Massa: This is definitely a very positive start to the season, especially because this is a track where I have always suffered. We have shown that our car is competitive, with a good race pace and that is down to all the hard work done during winter testing. I had an attacking start to my race, in which I was immediately fighting for the top places. Maybe if we had brought forward the second stop, as Fernando did, the podium would have been within my grasp, but I am still very happy with my result. Definitely, we are at a good level, but now we must carefully analyse every smallest detail to try and improve our car.
Pat Fry: In the morning, qualifying was very tough as it was vital to choose the right tyre at the most opportune moment and we managed it without too much hesitation. It was not easy understanding what was the real gap to the front runners, as in some conditions it is not always clear. This afternoon, we had a good race pace and both drivers performed well without making any mistakes. But we are aware that we still have a lot of work to do if we want to continue to improve. Maybe we could have risked a two stop strategy, but given the unknowns linked to tyre degradation, we preferred not to do that. In the next races, it will be vital to understand the tyre behaviour, in order to choose the best strategies.
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