• Australian Grand Prix

Alonso unconcerned by practice showing

Fernando Alonso was concentrating on heavy-fuel runs on Friday © Sutton Images

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• News:
• McLarens set the pace in the rain
  

• Race:
• Australian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso
• |
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Fernando Alonso has warned against reading too much into Friday's practice times in Australia, after he set the 15th fastest time in the second session.

Alonso is expected to be a front runner this weekend, but after the first day's practice he was two seconds off the pace of Lewis Hamilton's best time. Nevertheless, he is confident there is no cause for concern as Ferrari was running with heavier fuel loads in preparation for Sunday's race.

"Overall, I am reasonably happy with the work we managed to get done today, despite the rain that came in the second session," he said. "Sure, I would have liked to have got a greater understanding of the tyre behaviour, especially the softer ones, which we only used in FP2. However, I think everyone was in the same situation. We worked exclusively at preparing for Sunday's race and that's why I'm not bothered by my position in the classification."

At the first race in Bahrain many in the paddock were surprised by just how durable the Bridgestone tyres were and the amount of laps drivers could make them last. However, Alonso believes tyre degradation could play a bigger role in Melbourne, where graining is often an issue.

"For the race, tyre management will be a key factor, given that it's very probable that we will have to do a lot of laps on the same set of tyres," he said. "We will need to try and handle it in the best way possible to be able to attack when the right moment comes."

His team-mate Felipe Massa was less sure about Ferrari's pace, after a difficult afternoon practice session.

"It was a difficult Friday, especially the second session," he said. "Because of the rain which came and went, we did not manage to do exactly what we would have wanted. We concentrated on race preparation while it's possible some other teams were on a different programme to us. So, there is no point in trying to understand the situation simply by looking at the time sheet. Our aim tomorrow is to be well prepared for qualifying, which at this track will be even more important than usual."

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