Fernando Alonso showed that Ferrari could be in the mix for a podium in Monaco, by showing some impressive speed on Thursday.
Having been fourth in FP1, he was quickest in the afternoon, 0.4 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, although the conditions meant that there was little dry running for everyone.
“Here in Monaco, the most important thing in practice is to do as many laps as possible, because it is a very special track and you need to have a good feeling from the car,” he said. “Despite the rain reducing the amount of track time in the second session, we more or less managed to complete all our program and, with or without a turbo, the complexity of this track remains the same, so doing well in qualifying will be crucial.
“The increase in grip we found over the few laps we did with the supersoft tires leaves us in no doubt that this will be the tire to use on Saturday afternoon, while for the race there is still a lot to learn, as no one has done a long run. So we might have to improvise when it comes to strategy.”
Ferrari engineering chief Pat Fry said that it there was still much to be done.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get the most out of today. Usually, you do a lot of laps in Monaco as it’s the only way to gain confidence on this very unusual track, and that is even more the case this year, to learn how to manage the power delivery as well as possible with these new engines, keeping the torque under control, while trying to find the limit on a track that doesn’t allow for any mistakes.
“On top of that, for us engineers it is vital to understand where we can improve in terms of drivability and car stability because, with the walls this close, the drivers have to feel completely comfortable. With Fernando, because of the rain that fell in the lunch break, the afternoon session was reduced to around an hour, with just one run on supersoft tires, after a run on Intermediates. The softest compound in the range is harder than last year and took a few more laps to get up to temperature, so it was very important to try it with a view to qualifying.”
The downside for Ferrari was Kimi Raikkonen not running in the dry in FP2.
