We made a mistake and there’s no point for finding excuses. What happened this morning in the qualifying for tomorrow’s Malaysian GP was an erroneous evaluation of our potential and the strategy worked against Felipe. His 16th fastest lap time hurts, because the Team was and is convinced that Q1 reflects the real performance on the track. But, dear friends, to have that confirmed we have to wait until tomorrow. It won’t be easy for Kimi either, starting from row four and we have to pay lots of attention to the KERS and the F60’s overall reliability. But we’re optimistic as far as the race is concerned. It’s time to turn the page.
Well this was a difficult qualifying for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, but tomorrow is another day. Sepang is a circuit with long straights and fast corners. If the Scuderia reacts well and understood the mistakes they made at the start of the season, then things will change a lot. Tyre-wear and reliability are two main points the technicians from Maranello have worked a lot on the F60. The slicks should be more resistant compared to the season’s first GP, while the single-seaters’ reliabilities in the first race should have been a one-off, when the Felipe and Kimi both had to retire before the end of the race. The Finnish driver won already twice at Sepang and came in first last year.
"The Team’s motivation is high. It’s not the first time they have to deal with such a situation, where they have to start from the back of the grid, but they can count on a great race rhythm. We have to use each and every possibility", Massa said. But then we also have to watch out for the rain, which could change everything and turn the GP into a lottery. The rain in Sepang is tropical, considering that the race will start at 5pm local time there’s the risk that the end of the race will be held in the rain and with night falling.