Korean GP: Ferrari not looking at rivals' pace

A disastrous weekend in Japan meant Fernando Alonso's championship lead was slashed to just four points, with the Scuderia later conceding a change of approach to the world championship fight was needed.

Alonso says the team has focused purely on its own agenda so far in Korea, splitting its attentions between car set-up and optimising the tyres. He finished second and third fastest in the respective practices.

"It's hard to say where we are compared to the others, because today, we focused mainly on ourselves," Alonso said, "working this morning on a comparison of various ideas relating to car configuration and, in the afternoon on the tyres.

"We must wait until tomorrow to have a more precise picture of the situation."

The 31-year-old, chasing a third world crown, said building the car around the intricate third sector was crucial.

"The most demanding part of this circuit is definitely the third sector, the shortest in terms of time, made up almost entirely of corners," he explained.

"The set-up choices are dictated mainly by car behaviour in this third sector, while the other two are definitely easier to deal with."

In contrast to Alonso's caution, Felipe Massa - on the back of scoring his first podium of 2012 in Japan - said he was confident about Ferrari's start to the weekend.

"I'd say this weekend has got off on the right foot, but the important thing is to continue down this path tomorrow on Sunday, when it really counts," he said.

"Our car seems pretty good on this track, which is cause to be hopeful, even if we will only discover the truth tomorrow in qualifying."