• Malaysian Grand Prix - FP2

Ferrari 'putting together a puzzle' - Alonso

ESPNF1 Staff
March 23, 2012 « Massa suffering with setup direction | Grid penalty for Raikkonen for gearbox change »
Fernando Alonso was only 0.3s faster than Heikki Kovalainen's Caterham during FP1 © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links

Fernando Alonso likened Ferrari's work during Friday practice in Malaysia to "putting together a puzzle" as it worked on aerodynamic configurations.

Alonso was only 15th quickest during FP1 as Ferrari analysed a number of different aerodynamic options in order to learn more about the behaviour of the F2012. Having worked out which combinations worked best, Alonso improved to sixth quickest in the afternoon as a result of the work done during the first session.

"As usual here in Malaysia, one of the main tasks on Friday is to get used to the extreme conditions as quickly as possible," Alonso said. "Especially in the garage, you suffer from the heat when you are inside the cockpit, while at least out on track, you get a bit of air, although you can hardly call it cool! This morning we did a lot of work on comparing different aerodynamic configurations, which was a bit like putting together a puzzle, trying to find the best combination."

Alonso also said that he was encouraged by the performance of the Pirelli tyres during the second session.

"In the afternoon, we then moved on to the usual Friday job with the tyres, running with various different fuel levels on board. I would say that on this front, both the Mediums and the Hards seem to behave reasonably well, both in terms of performance on the first lap and when it comes to degradation on a long run. We gathered a lot of useful information which will allow us to be ready for the rest of the weekend. It did not rain today, but we know that here a storm can arrive without a moment's notice and so we need to be ready for every eventuality."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close