Friday practice at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil started on a positive note for Fernando Alonso and his McLaren team as he refined the balance of his contender and evaluated a number of test items during the first ninety minute session.
However, after completing his initial run in FP2, and finding further improvements, Alonso was forced to curtail his running just as he started long-run simulations.
Fernando was forced to stop on-track after his engineers discovered anomalous data readings relating to his car’s ERS water pressure. Therefore, he was unable to complete their planned running in FP2, leaving the Spaniard down in 11th place overall. Despite this issue, Alonso is confident of a strong second day where he is planning on making into the third and final qualifying session for a top ten place on the grid.
“We saw today that we seem to be a little bit more competitive here than at some of the previous races, and I believe there’s a chance for us to make it into Q3 tomorrow,” he said. “In the second session, I had to stop the car due to the fact that we saw an anomaly in ERS water pressure data. We’re going to change the engine anyway for tomorrow, so this issue won’t affect me at all for the rest of my weekend.”
“With the high temperatures we had today, I think everyone suffered a lack of grip and degradation, but it looks like the weather is going to change, with some lower temperatures, cloud and rain. That would help us, as it would help reshuffle the deck a little. Tomorrow we need to have a good qualifying session – that’s very important as overtaking around here can be quite difficult.”
