Fernando Alonso - Photo Credit: Ferrari
Fernando Alonso has said, after completing 45 laps in Thursday practice, that his first impression of the Ferrari F2012 around Monaco is ‘quite positive’.
The Spaniard topped the timesheets in the first practice session this morning, but this afternoon could not get a clear lap in on the supersoft Pirelli tyres before the heavens opened thirty minutes into the afternoon session. He finished the day fourth on the timesheets.
“I would say the first impressions [of the car] are quite positive: everything seems to respond as we would expect,” said the Spaniard. “We only made a few small modifications to the set-up, trying to improve it, but it's obviously too early to draw any conclusions. Let's say the weekend has got off on the right foot for us: now we must try and keep going down this path.”
Team-mate Felipe Massa actually finished the day faster than Alonso, with his lap in Q2 over six-tenths of a second faster. The Brazilian sounded pretty positive when he got out of the car.
“I am happy with the way things went on this Monaco Thursday,” said Massa. “The car seemed to me to be okay right from the start of the first session, with a good balance in all conditions and with slightly better traction than we had expected. Even when we ran the Intermediates in the final part of the second session, the feeling was still positive.
“It's hard to make predictions about qualifying and, even more so for the race, but definitely we can say the first day of free practice can be considered a positive one.”
