FORMULA ONE KOREAN GRAND PRIX:FERRARI TEAM manager Massimo Rivola is confident the team will be "very, very competitive" in Korea as they look to fight back in the race for the title. Fernando Alonso's lead in the drivers' championship has been slashed to just four points by Sebastian Vettel after the Spaniard's first-lap retirement in Japan.
Even without that setback Ferrari appeared to be in difficulty as they struggled to match the speed of the two Red Bulls and McLarens. But yesterday’s practice in Yeongam suggested a much stronger showing is on the cards. Alonso was second and third in the day’s two sessions and he and team-mate Felipe Massa were consistently quick on their longer race simulation runs.
While Red Bull appear to have the edge in ultimate one-lap speed, Ferrari’s pace over a race distance looks encouraging. Rivola said: “It was a very good day, the race pace looks very strong on the soft tyre but also on the option tyre, the super soft, our race pace was okay.
“Obviously there were tyre issues in terms of degradation and blistering can be a problem here, but I think the situation was the same for everybody and with the soft tyre it looks like we are very, very competitive.”
Ferrari have brought upgrades for the F2012 to Korea in an effort to re-energise Alonso’s title effort, but Rivola denied there has been a change of approach at Maranello now the Spaniard’s lead is so slender.
He said: “The approach does not change, the situation is still the same in trying to get the maximum from the car and pushing for the maximum in the factory.”
Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen insists he does not care about his lack of pace in Korean Grand Prix practice and fully expects Lotus to take a big step forward as the weekend progresses. The Finn is in danger of becoming the forgotten man of the battle for this year’s World Championship.
With leader Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel separated by just four points at the top of the standings and Lewis Hamilton 38 further back, many have overlooked the fact that Raikkonen is above the McLaren driver by five points.
Raikkonen is the only one of the title protagonists not to have won a race, despite impressing during his comeback season after a two-year stint in rallying.
To that end Lotus have brought a new Coanda effect exhaust system to Yeongam, and dabbled with a “Double DRS” device at recent rounds, as they look to keep him in the title picture.
But on a “difficult” Friday for the team Raikkonen could only manage 11th and 10th fastest times, and was a second adrift of Vettel’s pacesetting Red Bull in the afternoon session.
“Friday is when you try different things as it is the only time you can test different things. You want to get the car right and you have to test,” he said.
“We are more or less where we usually are on a Friday and hopefully we can improve the car and be faster tomorrow.”
Drivers’ Standings
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 194pts
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 190
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus 157
4 Lewis Hamilton (Brit) McLaren 152
5 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 134
6 Jenson Button (Brit) McLaren 131
7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 93
8 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus 82
9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 69
10 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber 66
Constructors’ Standings
1 RedBull–Renault 324pts
2 McLaren–Mercedes 283
3 Ferrari 263
4 Lotus–Renault 239
Remaining Races
TomorrowKorean GP Yeongam
Oct 28thIndian GP New Delhi
Nov 4thAbu Dhabi GP Yas Marina
Nov 18thUnited States GP Austin
Nov 25thBrazilian GP São Paulo
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