Q & A with Giancarlo Fisichella

Giancarlo Fisichella: Yes. I expected to be more comfortable than I was in Monza but unfortunately it wasn't like that. Probably because of the handling of the car here and the circuit is very bumpy and the walls are close to the braking points, so the confidence in the car was not great. I expected to be more competitive and to be more confident. But it wasn't like that. We expected with a 48.6s to be in the top 15 and I did a 48.3s but that was not enough by a couple of tenths. Considering Kimi's laptime and grid position it's not a perfect circuit for Ferrari.

Q.Is it a question of you becoming more comfortable with the car?

GF: Yes. I'm sure I'm still not 100 per cent. I can see on the data that I am still braking a little bit earlier than Kimi and I'm not as aggressive as I need to be. That's just confidence. I haven't had the opportunity to do a day of testing to set up the car as I want and it's not easy. I made some adjustments, but it's still not a car for my style of driving.

Q. Does the fact that the track conditions keep changing make it even harder?

GF: Yes, it's a difficult track because of the bumps and the walls are quite close to the braking points. For me it was important to keep the car on the ground and do lots of laps.

Q. What did you find more difficult - adapting your driving style to the car or finding the right setup?

GF: So far adapting my style of driving for the car.

Q. How different is your use of KERS compared to Kimi?

GF: I use the KERS a little bit differently to him. I use the KERS in two corners compared to his three. But it doesn't change a lot, just a couple of hundredths just to make my situation a bit better.

Q. The field is so close that you assume all of the cars are very similar but it looks like the cars are very different because when people jump from one car to another they find it difficult?

GF: Absolutely. The car is completely different, the handling is completely different compared to the Force India. I'm losing two or three tenths in concentration just because before the braking point I am thinking 'this is a Ferrari not a Force India'. Because of the KERS there is a different behaviour in braking, I need to downshift the gears much later - it's different. I need time and this was not the best place to improve my feeling. Let's do the race tomorrow and just improve.

Q. The lack of testing is hurting?

GF: I'm not saying have testing every week like last year, but you need every two races one test especially for the new guy when they jump in a new car like in my case or Jaime Alguersuari.

Q. How do the characteristics of the Mercedes and the Ferrari engines compare?

GF: Actually they are about the same power. On the Force India there was much freer drag of the car than the Ferrari so that makes for different straightline speed. But the power of the engine is about the same.

Q. Which do you prefer?

GF: On driveability, the Ferrari is a bit better.