Stronger qualifying pace a priority for Ferrari

Although the new F138 has proved to have strong race pace, which helped Fernando Alonso triumph in China, the team has not been able to deliver a pole position so far this season.

Ferrari's deputy chief designer Simone Resta thinks that it needs to do much better on Saturdays, especially because it is becoming increasingly clear that starting near the front gives drivers a better opportunity to run in clear air and look after their tyres.

"This year I think we have shown a reasonable race pace, and we closed the gap in qualifying [compared to 2012], but we still need to work on that - and it is a priority for us," said Resta, when asked by AUTOSPORT if qualifying form still matters with the new higher degrading tyres.

"I think learning the tyres and also how to treat them is an important factor in that - and concentrating your set-up more to qualifying or more to the race is another factor.

"But I think for us, it is a priority to try and recover performance in qualifying."

Ferrari has had a difficult start to 2013, with the team not making the most of the opportunities given to it by the competitiveness of the new car.

In Malaysia, Fernando Alonso crashed out after the team risked keeping him out on track with a damaged front wing, while in Bahrain last weekend his hopes of a podium finish were wrecked by a DRS failure.

Alonso is currently fourth in the championship standings, 30 points adrift of leader Sebastian Vettel. Felipe Massa is 17 points further back.

HOW THE QUALIFYING GAP COMPARES

Throughout last season, Ferrari made no secret of the fact that its biggest area of improvement needed to be in delivering more qualifying speed, as it was clear Alonso and Massa did not have the machinery to fight regularly for pole position.

Here is the gap between pole position and the quickest Ferrari driver for 2012's races - and how they compare to this season.

2012

AUSTRALIA   1.025s *
MALAYSIA    1.347s
CHINA       1.501s
BAHRAIN     0.194s *
SPAIN       0.017s
MONACO      0.647s
CANADA      0.367s
VALENCIA    0.218s
BRITAIN     pole position
GERMANY     pole position
HUNGARY     0.891s
BELGIUM     0.740s
ITALY       0.237s
SINGAPORE   0.854s
JAPAN       1.275s
KOREA       0.292s
INDIA       0.490s
ABU DHABI   0.952s
USA         1.280s
BRAZIL      0.529s

2013

AUSTRALIA   1.083s
MALAYSIA    0.913s
CHINA       0.304s
BAHRAIN     0.337s

* If team failed to make it through to Q3, or did not complete a lap in Q3, the comparison is with best Q2 time.