Ferrari, glass half full in Sepang qualifying

One driver, Fernando Alonso, in ninth position and the other, Felipe Massa, in twelfth: this is the verdict of the qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship of the season, for Scuderia Ferrari. In the first two parts of the session both drivers followed the same Pirelli tire management programme: one set of Hard and one of Medium in Q1, one used and one new set of Medium in Q2. Fernando then used the last set of Medium available in his only attempt in Q3.

“We must look at this result as a glass half full. We know that this start of the season sees us in difficulty, so we must try to limit the damage on the track while we work to make the F2012 more competitive in the shortest possible time" declared Stefano Domenicali.

“All of us and our fans would like to see our drivers always fight for pole position but if potential doesn't allow it we must do everything within our possibilities. Today Fernando once again did an excellent job and we are sorry for the KERS problem, the first in a long time, which prevented him from setting a significantly better time on a track where the help this system gives is significant. Felipe took a step in the right direction: finally the car he had in qualifying had a decent balance and it was also seen from the stopwatch. Now we have to concentrate on the race and try to bring home as many points as possible. We saw in Melbourne that over the long distance the difference from the leaders is smaller than in qualifying: let's see how a race that promises to be very tough for cars, drivers and teams, who find themselves operating in particular climatic conditions, will unfold tomorrow."

“Honestly it was difficult to think of obtaining a different result from this, knowing the potential available” added Pat Fry. “We had a KERS problem right in the latter stages of the session, when Fernando went for his last timed lap in Q3, which cost him a few tenths but I don't think it could have allowed him to have a different grid position. As usual, the Spanish driver squeezed every drop of performance from the F2012. Felipe finally had a better balanced car and made good progress compared to the previous sessions thanks also to the work that the whole team did together with him. A very tough race awaits us tomorrow: the objective is to get both drivers into the points. The start will be a very important moment just as tire degradation will be one of the decisive and determining factors for the strategy. Then there's the weather uncertainty: so far the rain has only made a brief appearance in FP3 but we know well that the storm can arrive at any moment: we'll need to be ready to take advantage of any eventuality that may arise."