• Chinese Grand Prix - FP2

Ferrari rues hydraulic problems

Fernando Alonso completed just 17 laps in FP2 © Sutton Images

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Ferrari's evaluation of its new aerodynamic package during Friday practice for the Chinese Grand Prix proved inconclusive after Fernando Alonso experienced a hydraulic problem.

The team has reacted to its slow start to the season by manufacturing a new front wing, among other components, in the short gap between the Malaysian and Chinese rounds. However, deputy technical director Pat Fry said the early running with the upgrades had been stymied by problems with Alonso's car.

"I think we had more problems today in three hours than we had in the whole fifteen days of winter testing," he said. "A shame, because we needed to cover some distance, especially with Fernando, who was experimenting with the latest aerodynamic solutions that they have come up with in Maranello. We will try and make a virtue of necessity and carry out the job of analysing the data with the data we managed to gather."

Alonso reckons the team is on top of its tyre warm-up problems that have hampered it in qualifying so far, but is not expecting to be in a position to fight for victory.

"As for the new aerodynamic components, it is too early to say if they really produce an advantage," he said. "The engineers will now have to study the data carefully, before drawing any definite conclusions as to whether or not we are moving in the right direction in terms of development. From the little I could see, there are no problems - or at least they are very slight - in terms of warm up on the hard tyres, which could be an improvement for managing the tyres in qualifying.

"I don't expect much to change from what we saw in Malaysia and Australia: McLaren and especially Red Bull are quicker than us and are favourites. At the moment we are not capable of fighting for the win, but that doesn't mean we won't be trying."

Felipe Massa completed more laps than Alonso and is hoping for a boost over one lap this weekend.

"I am hoping for a better qualifying, but we know it will be very difficult, while from what we have seen today, I think the situation in the race could be similar to what we saw in Malaysia," he said. "Fernando used some new parts but it is too soon to say if they really represent progress: unfortunately, he had problems and did not manage to do as much as was scheduled. The soft tyres seem much better than the hards: not only do they give more grip, which is normal, but also the degradation is not as high as we have seen before."

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