New Ferrari 'ok' says Alonso
Fernando Alonso: I did not have any surprises, which is a good thing...
Feb.20 (GMM) After his first day at the wheel in 2013, Fernando Alonso on Tuesday had a stiff neck and a cautious round of optimism about the new Ferrari.
The Spaniard said he was "reasonably pleased" with his day of work in Barcelona, which left him third on the timesheet and a hundredth ahead of his 2012 title rival Sebastian Vettel.
The psychological war may also have begun on their first head-to-head this year, with Alonso cheekily overtaking Vettel on the narrow pitlane entry as the test day officially concluded at 5pm, according to the Swiss newspaper Blick.
"This car is a continuation of the previous one," he said, after posing with the red car featuring the sticker of new team sponsor UPS.
"I did not have any surprises, which is a good thing because last year we were a little surprised, and not in a positive way," added Alonso.
"We need to be optimistic and think we will fight this year for the championship if we improve the car a little bit."
At the very top of the times was Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, but earlier in the day he had a gearbox issue.
"The basis of the car is much, much better (than the 2012 one)," said the German, "but we are having a few too many reliability problems at the moment."
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