After winning the British GP, Ferrari head to the Nurburgring in good spirits but concede a follow-up victory will come easy...
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Fernando Alonso: "The German Grand Prix is bang in the middle of the 2011 championship: we have had nine races so far and, after the one at the Nurburgring, we will face the same number again. Some might say that makes it a time to assess what's gone before, but I prefer not to look too closely at the standings. We had a difficult start, but from a few races ago up until now, we have got back to being competitive. It cannot be denied that we have made progress, up to the point where we have actually taken a fully deserved win on one of the tracks - Silverstone - that on paper was least suited to our car. However, that great victory must not change our approach: we most continue to tackle one race after another, without looking at the classification and then, at the end, we will do the maths. So we head off for Germany in the same spirit we demonstrated in England, but with the additional awareness that we are now more competitive.
"After the race across the Channel, I came back to spend a few day relaxing at home. I know we have two very busy weeks ahead of us so I thought it best to recharge the batteries, spending some time with my family and doing some training. From Monday evening, I was in Maranello where I was involved in preparations for the German Grand Prix, which meant a lot of work on the simulator and meetings with the engineers. But in addition, there were also a whole range of activities that see me ever more involved in life at Ferrari. For example, yesterday I took part in a prizegiving ceremony for the top three finalists in a Ferrari World Design Contest: it was very interesting for me to see how much passion these youngsters from all over the world have for their vision of the Ferrari of the future. This morning I was involved in some promotional work, along with two of our partners and then I was invited by President Montezemolo to Podio Ferrari, the event that brings together in Maranello, all the company's suppliers, both those that work with the Scuderia and those whose relationship is with our colleagues on the road car side. The four prizewinners got the chance to do some laps of the Fiorano track in a 458 Italia: I don't know if they expected me to be their driver, but I think they enjoyed the experience! Finally, I went to say hello to over four hundred kids, all children of the workforce here, who were taking part in the summer camp organised by the company. As you can imagine, it meant total immersion in the world of Ferrari and it will continue right up to the end of the month. In fact, already from Sunday night, after the German Grand Prix, I will travel back to Maranello with the team and stay another three days before we all head off together for Budapest. The 7th August marks the start of the factory shut-down established by FOTA, which means we will have to prepare for the Spa race, one of the most interesting of the year, well ahead of time. That's why I think this will be a very busy time, but I have to say I am really getting to like feeling part of this world.
"Now might not be the time to think too much about all that, because as from tomorrow, a race weekend gets underway at the historic venue that is the Nurburgring, where I have already won twice. There's a saying about something happening twice, but I don't want to jinx my chances by saying it, so it's up to the fans to work out what it is!"
Felipe Massa: "Looking back briefly at the British Grand Prix, my result was not the best, but I came away from England feeling very encouraged by the performance of the 150º Italia over the course of the weekend. The race itself could have gone better, but as I explained before, from quite early on, around lap 20 or so, my car picked up a piece of debris in the floor, which affected my level of downforce and reduced my pace. That in turn meant I was using the tyres more than I should which impacted on the final result. However, in general our pace at Silverstone was much better than we had expected at this circuit and that is down to an excellent job from the team and those working back in the factory. So now I expect we can continue to move forward like this in the second half of the season. Okay, as from now the rules regarding the off-throttle diffuser go back to where they were, but the suggestion that our improved performance at the last race came from the rule change is wrong: when the engine mapping was changed, I would say we were losing maybe around four tenths of a second, depending on the track. But this lack of downforce should theoretically make it more difficult to get the tyres to work, especially the hard compound, but even in this configuration, Silverstone was the first time we were able to make the hard tyres work very well. As an example, just look at the first part of qualifying at Silverstone where I was third quickest, just a tenth of a second behind the fastest man, using the hard tyre. This means that our performance level was down to all the new components and updates we brought to Silverstone and was not connected to the rule change.
"I have also spent a few days in Maranello, with a busy schedule both on the technical front and with promotional work. For two days, I worked in the simulator as well as attending meetings with the engineers and I also attended the annual meeting of the Ferrari dealers, coming from all the 58 countries where the Prancing Horse is present. On Friday, I drove our 3-seater F1 car at Fiorano for a promotional event: I have driven it before and it is definitely an entertaining experience, great fun. The best part is seeing the faces of the people as they prepare to get in the car. There is no other way to say it, they are simply very scared! I also had the opportunity to drive it with my engineers in the car, which actually is very good from a work point of view, so they can understand what it is we do in the cockpit, rather than just shouting at us to go faster all the time! I have to say, my race engineer Rob Smedley was very quiet, very nervous and shaking when he got out of the car J! I also took Pat Fry and Giuliano Salvi and then I also took my wife for a ride. She has been in it before and obviously enjoyed the experience although at the moment she has a rather stiff neck.
"Looking ahead to next weekend's German Grand Prix, it is an event I enjoy and I have been on the podium four times, although three of those have been at Hockenheim and then I have two additional podiums from coming second at the Nurburgring in the 2007 European GP, after leading Fernando in the McLaren for much of the race, and third again behind Michael and Fernando in 2007, my first ever podium in the career. It is an interesting circuit, with some unusual corners, uphill and downhill and slow turns in the modified first sector. So you need good downforce, but there are also some straights where straight line speed is important and based on what we saw from our aero package in Silverstone, I have high hopes that we can continue in the right direction in Germany. As for the championship, what can I say? As long there is a mathematical possibility there is always hope. I have said it so often, but it's still true, that at Ferrari we never give up and we keep on fighting. The best strategy is simply to think about the season one race at a time, like we did at Silverstone. Now we need to keep the momentum this weekend and then immediately afterwards in Hungary, as that comes just one week later."
