Soon after the qualifying action was over, Alonso admitted his surprise over Ferrari F10’s lack of speed in Turkey, something that he wasn’t expecting after the improvements made by the Scuderia mechanics in recent weeks.
“I don't know (what happened). I didn't think we were so slow. We struggled in Q1, ninth and tenth, and then in Q2 we couldn't improve the time by much and we were out. By a tenth, but that's the way it is. We have to improve and we know it,” said Alonso, who piggybacked on his team principal Stefano Domenicali insisting Ferrari must react quickly to these poor results.
Alonso will start the race from 12th place, while 3-time Turkish Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa only managed the 8th best time of the day, these results being a clear suggestion that it's rather the car than the driver who needs fixing.
“These are certainly not the positions from which we would have liked to start the 800th grand prix in the history of the Scuderia, but we have to be honest and admit that today, our performance did not live up to our expectations. We have to react immediately. (…)Today, Felipe did the maximum, using all the potential available from his car and the tires. Fernando did not have a perfect Q2 and missed the cut for the final part of qualifying,” said Domenicali.
As far as the Spaniard goes, one additional bad news is that his starting position will be on the dirty side of the track, which will give him close-to-nothing grip at the start tomorrow.
“When I crossed the line they told me I was 11th so I thought tomorrow at the start I would gain places, but from 12th I may even lose some positions, so it's going to be difficult,” added Alonso.
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