“We are up against very strong opposition, which is no surprise to us. Of course, there's a question mark over fuel loads, and we won't get an answer to that until the first pit-stops tomorrow afternoon.
“I am a bit disappointed, but I made mistakes on my second lap in Q3 and I have to accept that. I didn't go into the final corner before the pit straight quite right and lost a lot of speed. We can count on a car that is good over a distance, though, and we will try and make the most of it, trying to get as many points as possible. Winning is never easy, but I'll give it a go!”
The
Scuderia's team principal Stefano Domenicali, meanwhile, remained characteristically cautious, despite Maranello's twelve-point margin in the constructors' standings over nearest pursuers BMW-Sauber and the fact that, between them, Massa and Raikkonen have sewn up all three Turkish Grands Prix to be held so far.
“A very nice pole from Felipe,” the Italian acknowledged, “and a shame for Kimi, who could have been a bit further up the grid tomorrow.
“In general terms we can be happy with the overall result, even if this is only the smallest step on the road to the targets we set ourselves for this weekend. Of course the biggest one is the race which we can tackle fully confident of our potential, while being aware of the great strengths of our rivals, who will make our life difficult.”
“As expected, this was a very close qualifying,” added technical director Luca Baldisserri. “Felipe did a nice lap to take pole, while it was a shame that Kimi missed out on a better position by a whisker.
“We have a car that works well over a long run, especially on the softer
Bridgestone tyres, and we will do our utmost to bring home as many points as possible. The start will be important, as will strategy, while as ever the crucial element is reliability.”
