Sepang, 17 March - Dear Y&F friends, welcome to the official Scuderia press office blog. I am Luca Colajanni and I am responsible for relations between the media and the Gestione Sportiva. From today, I will also be communicating with you in order to draw you closer to the world of Ferrari.I am writing to you from Sepang where night has now fallen. It has been a long day in tropical heat. Unfortunately, Felipe’s engine had to be substituted; a real shame as, from what we could see today, the set up was on a par with that of the other top teams and we could have repeated Sakhir’s fantastic qualifying result. Instead, only Michael will be challenging for pole position while for Felipe it will be an uphill struggle all the way. Also, we have to take into consideration that overtaking is possible on this circuit and that the Bridgestones have proved to be consistent. So, though starting from the back of the grid, a good placing is still within reach, as Raikkonen demonstrated last Sunday.
The mechanics will work into the night making sure the two F248 F1s are in tip-top shape. Free practice is timed for 11 tomorrow and it is here that we will iron out any doubts over the choice of tyre. As you know, this season the two forty-five minute sessions – the first at 9 and the second at 10.15 - have been replaced by a single stint lasting an hour. I have to say that we are very pleased as the system gives us more time to rest. After nights like the one that awaits our guys tonight, rest will be needed! At 14 comes the qualifying session. Last Saturday in Bahrain was spectacular, even watching from the pit lane. There was never a let-up and the tension was permanently high. The joy of claiming the front row meant that all the stress was forgotten. I think that the new format is a real step forward if we compare it to the systems employed over the past few years. I hope that you also enjoyed it and that we can celebrate another great session tomorrow!