Ferrari: Harder tyres still the car’s weakness

Ferrari: Harder tyres still the car’s weakness | 2011 Belgian GP team review

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011

Ferrari: Harder tyres still the car’s weakness | 2011 Belgian GP team review:
Alonso led the race early on but fell back after switching to the medium tyres.

	Fernando Alonso	Felipe Massa
Qualifying position	8	4
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)	1’51.251 (+0.995)	1’50.256
Race position	4	8
Laps	44/44	44/44
Pit stops	2	3

Ferrari drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44
Fernando Alonso	122.347	116.493	116.84	116.562	116.574	116.752	115.151	118.283	128.668	115.238	113.747	113.399	124.146	172.367	173.602	170.287	115.264	114.302	112.968	113.134	112.9	113.082	112.91	113.09	113.216	113.196	113.256	113.439	117.306	124.663	111.844	111.956	111.556	112.036	112.115	111.914	112.293	111.364	111.251	111.183	111.107	112.041	111.485	112.588
Felipe Massa	120.901	117.067	117.273	116.521	118.828	116.516	116.984	117.354	120.222	130.014	117.7	116.319	130.768	153.117	172.721	169.835	115.995	114.464	114.061	114.441	114.29	114.997	114.538	114.988	114.804	114.87	114.764	115.014	115.133	119.313	128.784	117.37	127.394	112.153	113.253	111.942	112.616	111.81	111.785	111.765	111.944	111.564	111.661	113.116

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011

Fernando Alonso
Ferrari kept their running to a minimum on Saturday morning, and Alonso had his worst qualifying result of the year. He lined up eighth, struggling to get heat into his tyres on a cool day.
He was knocked wide at the first corner as a result of the Bruno Senna/Jaime Alguersuari collision, but still had enough momentum to take fifth place.
On the next lap he took Lewis Hamilton for fourth. Three laps later he dived down the inside of Massa at Rivage for fourth, and took the place despite running wide.
After Vettel pitted, Alonso passed Nico Rosberg to take the lead, which he held until he pitted on lap eight.
Needing to spend as little time on the medium tyre as possible, Alonso didn’t pit under the safety car, hoping Vettel would not be able to run long enough on his soft tyres to make only three stops.
But Vettel did, and Alonso had to come in for mediums on lap 29. In the final stint he was up to a second off Vettel’s pace and was passed by Mark Webber and Jenson Button.
“It would have been difficult to do better than this fourth place today, especially given how much we suffered on the medium tyres,” said Alonso. “In these conditions, we are a second and a half slower than the best.”
Stefano Domenicali said: “We saw our car perform in two different ways, depending on what tyres it was running: very good on the soft, especially with Fernando, but definitely lacking with the medium.
“This explains how Fernando, who delivered an extraordinary performance, taking the lead and fighting for the win in the first stint, then gradually saw what would have been a very well deserved podium place slip from his grasp.”
Fernando Alonso 2011 form guide
Felipe Massa
Massa out-qualified his team mate for the second race in a row. He gained a place from Hamilton at the start, but when Alonso passed him on lap five it allowed Hamilton to re-take the place off Massa.
Massa was passed by Rosberg after the restart and then couldn’t re-pass the Mercedes:
“When I found myself behind Rosberg, I could not pass him, despite the DRS, because their top speed is very good. Furthermore, I was struggling especially in the slowest corners – the final chicane and La Source – and that stopped me from getting as good a tow as possible.”
A puncture forced him to make an extra pit stop on lap 32 which dropped him out of the points. He passed Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado, then took eighth off Vitaly Petrov who spun at the final corner.
Felipe Massa 2011 form guide
2011 Belgian Grand Prix