From the tone of questioning from the F1 media, as they quizzed Fernando Alonso in the team hospitality alongside the Monaco harbour this afternoon, it is clear that it’s not only the “tifosi” who would like to see Scuderia Ferrari return to winning ways soon. The press seemed keen to know if the fact this is a “driver’s circuit” could see the Spaniard do well this weekend, with or without good traction from the F14 T. “We have more than one problem at the moment, but it would be nice to have good traction here,” was Fernando’s honest response.
“Even without the best traction in recent years, we have still managed to do well in Monaco including a couple of podium finishes,” he continued. “Hopefully this weekend, we can be competitive enough to be at the front and score some good points. Traction will be a question mark for everybody this weekend. The cars have been quite tricky to drive so far this year and now we arrive at a very special circuit with a unique layout that features some risky places. We must wait and see which team is able to better adapt their car to this circuit. As I have said before, having an update which maybe gives you a couple of tenths of a second, is less important at this track than finding a good set-up that allows you to have confidence in the car. Monaco definitely offers a difference scenario and is a little bit more open than in the other races where we have seen Mercedes dominate, but they are still the biggest favourites. Even if car performance is not as important here, the car is still the biggest factor. But this is definitely a circuit that can bring some action.”
Of course, driver ability alone is not enough in Formula 1 and Alonso knows there is still work to be done. “We definitely have the potential to improve the car and if we do it in the areas where there is a big margin, then we can hope to have good races and good results.”