The Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were consistently within the top four on the timesheets throughout both Friday practice sessions today in Canada, and Alonso recorded the fastest lap of anybody.
However, the double world champion knows not to draw too many conclusions from this good performance:
“As usual on a Friday, the times don't mean much because we don't know what programme the others were running and especially because rain is forecast for Sunday: the data acquired today could turn out to be of not much use,” said Alonso. “We followed our programme, trying out the different types of tyre and various aerodynamic solutions.
“It was definitely one of our best Fridays – it does not happen often that we see our cars in the top five places – but it is true we were also quickest on both Thursday and Saturday morning in Monaco and then, in qualifying, we found ourselves nine tenths down on the Red Bull: that's when they show their true potential and that's why they are still our main rivals, along with McLaren and Mercedes, who seem to be very strong here.”
Massa was also wary of drawing too many conclusions from a good Friday result, but is pleased with the balance of his car around Montreal:
“It was a good day, maybe the best Friday since the start of the season,” said the Brazilian. “The car seems competitive and the balance wasn't bad for a first day of practice. Obviously, it's only Friday so it is difficult to have a clear picture of the situation, partly because we don't know if our competitors are trying different things, but I am reasonably pleased.”
