22/11/2013
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso: "It's always hard to get much running when it rains here, as the level of water on track is never consistent and can affect lap times by two to three seconds. Each time you go off the racing line you then have to try and understand the track conditions at that precise moment, because there are no absolute values. But given that the forecast for the weekend is similar to today's, we can say that, even if it was short, it was a good practice. Qualifying and the race will be very complicated from the strategy point of view and, on that front this evening we will have to come up with a good plan. To do well here, you also need a bit of luck, because in conditions like this, being in the right place at the right time is always a help."
Felipe Massa: "Today was a difficult day, complicated by the rain in both the morning and afternoon. With the track wet throughout, we chose to do not much running and what we did was on Intermediates. That way we managed to save the sets of Extreme Wets, in expectation of very variable weather over the weekend. It's hard to establish how the weekend will go, because even if we weren't quick today in the rain, it's too early to say what conditions will best suit our car. It will definitely be important to use the tyres well and to get confident with the track. For me, this is a very special weekend, my last race with Ferrari on my home track. I am racing here with an all-red helmet and a fantastic race suit, given me as a sign of affection by my team, with whom I hope to end the season in the best way possible."
Pat Fry: "On Friday, it's always difficult to work out the hierarchy in the pit lane, especially in mixed conditions like today's. In the morning we carried out some practice starts, as well as pit stops and constant speed runs, which will provide useful data when it comes to working out the best set-up for the wet. As it is also expected to be wet tomorrow, in the second session, we opted to save the tyres, only going out for the final half hour. Even if the total number of laps over the two sessions is not enough to give an accurate picture of where we stand in terms of our competitiveness with other teams, I don't expect anything very much different from the last few Grands Prix. This evening we will try and evaluate our performance as well as possible compared to the opposition and will prepare to get everything out of the car both in qualifying and the race."
Check out our Friday gallery, here.