- Turkish Grand Prix
Ferrari is closing the gap - Alonso
- Race:
- Turkish Grand Prix
- Championship:
- FIA Formula One World Championship
- Drivers:
- Fernando Alonso
- |
- Felipe Massa
- Teams:
- Ferrari
Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari is more competitive at the Turkish Grand Prix than it was in Spain and is expecting be on a par with McLaren behind the Red Bulls.
Alonso finished second in Spain but only finished there because Lewis Hamilton's McLaren and Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull encountered problems. In Friday practice at Istanbul Park he was fifth fastest just a tenth-of-a-second off the McLarens and Red Bulls but said he expected a different order come the race.
"Compared to the Spanish Grand Prix, I think the situation is a bit better, down to the fact the track characteristics are different and do not require the maximum aerodynamic downforce, but rather an intermediate level which is better suited to our car," Alonso said. "However, it would be a surprise if the Red Bulls were not ahead of everyone. We are thereabouts, behind them along with McLaren: that is my prediction.
Like Red Bull, Alonso said his Ferrari's F-duct wasn't yet perfect but that the team had made progress since the last race. "We tried some solutions for finding the best way to manage the blown rear wing system and have made some progress, even if it is not yet perfect: we will work on it for the upcoming races."
Team-mate Felipe Massa was only tenth fastest in the afternoon and was left ruing a spin at turn eight that flat-spotted his tyres.
"I was not able to do a time on the soft tyres because I ended up spinning on my first timed lap at turn eight," he said. "This was the most inconvenient factor today, as that set of tyres was no longer useable and I had to do almost the entire second session on just one set of the harder compound tyres."