Fernando Alonso has hinted that Ferrari may not be in the running for Valencia race victory on Sunday but is pleased with the Italian team’s upgrades this weekend. The Scuderia, amongst other things, is now running low exhausts for the first time.
Having enjoyed victory in Bahrain, Alonso is yet to step on the top step of the podium again and a front row grid slot still eludes the Spaniard in 2010. However, Fernando is content with his team’s pace as he and team-mate Felipe Massa start fourth and fifth behind Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren.
“I am happy with this result,” Alonso began. “Here, so many teams - including Ferrari - have brought new parts and so it was important to show we are capable of fighting for the top places; we managed it and we must bear in mind that, without the updates we have on the F10, we would probably have struggled to make it into Q3.
“Tomorrow, we have the potential to fight for a podium place; it will be important to get a good start, choose the right strategy and not make any mistakes because the walls here are not forgiving.”
Massa is also pleased but believes he could have started on the second row.
“We had a good car and the potential was there to do better than this fifth place,” said the driver who won the first Valencia street race two years ago. “In Q1 and Q2, I was very pleased with the handling, but in Q3 I was not able to improve, mainly because of traffic that prevented me from preparing the tyres properly.
“It’s a shame because I could have been starting from third place tomorrow.”
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| Felipe Massa | |||
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