Ferrari bounced back to form in Singapore yesterday just two weeks after a dismal home Grand Prix in Italy leaving everyone, including Fernando Alonso, surprised by their pace.
The two-time former champion was fastest in the first and third practice sessions and then qualified fifth on the grid for today's race under the Marina Bay circuit street lights.
The Spaniard was just twotenths of a second off the pace set by pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and said: “It was quite a surprise for us, to be honest. Two tenths from pole position is something that we could not imagine yesterday.
“In free practice, we normally are competitive and then in quali’ we lose some ground, but it didn’t happen here. In quali’, we were competitive also so that was good news.”
Alonso added that he believed the specific nature of the street circuit, where the power demands are lower, had made the difference for Ferrari compared to the outright power circuit at Monza.
He said: “The reasons are not clear, but probably the track characteristics suit our car a little bit better. We know that power effect is quite low here.
“And here I felt confident in the car from lap one. We did one minor set-up change in the car, so the car was quite good from the first lap, which also helps the driver to keep doing laps with similar characteristics and performance.
“So a mix of things, but I think on top of those it’s the power effect in this track that has helped us a little bit.”
Alonso said his target in today’s race was to finish on the podium.
He added: “We need to see how the race develops, so, we’ll see. I think the podium is closer than ever, because the level of competitiveness is quite good this weekend.
“We are competitive and we start in the top five so why not think of the podium? Victory is very optimistic, but we’ll see.”
Lotus continued to struggle, with Romain Grosjean showing his frustration before finishing a disappointing 16th fastest.
As more gremlins affected his car’s Renault engine he told his pit crew via the car radio: “I cannot believe it, bloody engine, bloody engine.”
