Ferrari insist they can fight for pole position at Singapore this weekend, despite a troubled Friday for the Italian team.
A damp track throughout the first practice session meant any meaningful track time was diminished, and when conditions improved later in the evening Fernando Alonso's car suffered reliability problems.
“I braked a bit late at turn 18 and ended up in the escape road,” said Alonso. “I selected reverse, but when I then selected first gear to get going again, the car stopped.
“It's a shame, because I lost the final twenty minutes of the session, the part when I was due to run with a heavy fuel load.”
Ferrari chief engineer Chris Dyer put the issue down to “an experimental component in the gearbox” breaking.
“We tried various new aerodynamic solutions, also comparing the handling of the car with and without the blown rear wing,” he said.
“Now it is up to the engineers, along with the drivers, to reach a decision tonight as to which is the best configuration for qualifying and the race.”
Meanwhile Felipe Massa continued his season-long struggle with making the Bridgestone tyres work to his liking.
The Brazilian also admitted to having difficulty finding a balance in the car, saying he struggled with oversteer for most of the session.
“I am not particularly pleased with the balance of the car and that is another reason why we spent a lot of time on track in the first session, even when track conditions were not ideal,” he said.
Nevertheless, Ferrari say they can resolve their Friday woes and take the fight to Red Bull and McLaren in qualifying on Saturday.
“I think the battle between the top three teams is very tight and that we can fight for places at the front of the grid,” insisted Dyer.
