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Ferrari will be quicker in Barcelona - Alonso
ESPNF1 Staff
February 10, 2012
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Fernando Alonso says Ferrari has a 20% understanding of the new car © Press Association
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Fernando Alonso is confident Ferrari will have a much stronger test in Barcelona after it started to get a basic understanding of its new car on the final two days at Jerez.
The new F2012 is a complete departure from last year's F150 Italia and on Thursday technical director Pat Fry admitted he was not happy with its progress in the first three days of running. But on the fourth day Alonso topped the timesheets with a 1:18.877 to allay some fears about the raw performance of the car, even though he only completed 39 laps in total.
However, he said the team was starting to get an understanding of the car and predicted it would have a much more productive test in Barcelona, where he is hoping to unlock more performance by refining the car's setup.
"I think it's very early days at the moment," he said. "There is still a lot of work to do. At the moment we need to keep understanding the car a lot, maybe we understand 20% of what we need and in the next [test] days we will try to get the rest.
"There is still a lot of work to do with the setup, because here we concentrated on the aerodynamics, the constant speed [tests] and some different other reliability tests. But there is a lot more to come also from the setup.
"There are only two more tests unfortunately, because we are one test less than last year, so in Barcelona we need to maximise the time on the track - that is maybe the only negative thing of today. Nine hours available track time and we only did 39 laps, so in Barcelona we need to 100 laps or more because all of that information in those laps will be welcome."
He insisted the Jerez test as a whole had been positive, despite the slightly negative vibe coming from the team earlier in the week.
"There's still a long way to go until Australia in terms of how many days testing we can do," Alonso added. "The progress in these four days has been quite big for us, maybe not in performance or times - I don't know what the times or the track conditions in the first few days compared to now - but definitely all the tests we did and all the understanding of the car has been positive for us and we will arrive in Barcelona much more prepared than how we arrived in Jerez. That is also what Pat tried to say yesterday.
"We arrived at Jerez thinking one idea of the car and maybe it was not exactly like that, but we worked around and we found the performance there and we found the happiness or the level of confidence of driving this car now in day three and day four. Day one in Barcelona will be a much better starting point."
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No1 out here has any right to say anythng against massa and ALONSO..!! ALonso is focused determind strong as he is.!! infact he himself said he feels more stronger at FERRARI then he ever was.!! so stop complaining and just think about d BArcelona test n then the final test and then d race at Melbourne.!! Magic Alonso.! Forza Ferrari.!! :) :) all the Best FERNANDO ALONSO.!! :) :) <3 <3
Posted byI feel sorry for Massa, but I think he's not good enough anymore for a team like Ferrai. I would like to see Jensen Button in a Ferrari. Alonso and Button- I believe that would be a great combination.
Posted byI doubt Alonso is fearful of anyone Ferrari could bring in. Fernando is the best driver in the world and even Redbull/McLaren fans can admit this. Therefore even if you bring in someone to challenge him it wouldnt matter because even if he slips a bit, there simply wouldnt be anyone who would be far and away better to warrant him losing his number 1 seat. I just think Fernando and Ferrari are like peas and carrots.
Posted byHonestly guys.. we do not know anything about Massa's speed, the exact programme Ferrari run, so how can here anyone say Massa is a reason for this or that, or that Massa should be replaced because he is slow... I always love when everyone thinks they know everything and even more than the team knows... I am sure massa did a lot of work evaluating the new car, and it is pretty logical that they understand the car much better after 4 days of testing then after 2 days, regardless who sat in the car. So sit down you all and start thinking a bit before you come here and bash someone who you do not even met in your life and talking about stuff you do not know. We are only outsiders who like this sport, whatever we do we will remain only this. The only thing how you can measure a driver is how many points he collects, and this is something nobody knows before any racing is done.
Posted byEveryone got a lot of time to work on their cars.I think Ferrari will be fine by the time the testing resumed in Barcelona.
Posted byMaybe is Alonso intense Ferrari to keep Massa or he will not race for Ferrari because, 1) Alonso fear the 2nd teammate like Hamilton to beat him and overtake the no.1 spot in the team. 2) simply Alonso know Massa is slow and no way Massa can beat him. ---make sense???---- pls think.. otherwise there is no way Ferrari still keep massa on 2012. And we never heard of Alonso complaint about his trammate at Ferrari not done a good job. think about it... it's Alonso's coward attitude to maintain Massa in Ferrari.....
Posted byAlonso is unrelenting with his determination to win, he never gives up.
Posted byMan, I cant wait until this Season begins. Fernando looks strong and determined as ever. If massa dont start challenging Fernando,he should be replaced. This is starting to look ridicoulos. Forza Ferrari
Posted byGet rid of Massa. Put Alguersuari or Sutil in there, for 2012.
Posted byhonestly massa should get sacked mid season if he doesnt improve.