Fernando Alonso says the one-second gap to pole position is unacceptable, but after Australia, it wasn’t unexpected.
The F150º isn’t competitive enough to fight for pole position, nor the race win, according to the double-world champion who admitted Ferrari took a conservative approach today.
“It was not easy! We found we were not competitive enough in morning practice, so it was again a conservative approach, and we only did one run in Q3,” he told the BBC.
“You have to risk but at the same time not too much. It is a stressful situation. We did our job today, knowing we must improve. A second gap between pole position and us is too much.”
He is however more confident in race trim and expects to be able to challenge the leading four come Sunday.
“In the race I think it is much closer. I’m not so sure which conditions are better for us,” he added. “The start will be interesting. Maybe we can overtake the Red Bulls here – we believe they do not have the KERS here.”
On the subject of the title race, he isn’t worried and expects Ferrari will solve their pace issues to be able to compete sooner or later.
“At the moment this is what we have, and we need to score as many points as possible every weekend, and maybe tomorrow with the weather conditions things can change in the race. We need to maximise and take any opportunity that gives us.
“I’m very optimistic for the Championship chances. This is a long Championship, many races, many things can happen.”
