Austin, 17 November

From Abu Dhabi to Austin, the result of qualifying for Scuderia Ferrari has not changed: seventh and ninth places at the track alongside Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and seventh and ninth on the new and spectacular circuit on the outskirts of the Texan capital. One small difference, the drivers are the other way round this time, with Massa ahead of Alonso. If you take into account the fact that the two Ferrari men will move up a place on the grid because Grosjean takes a penalty for having to change his gearbox, which therefore puts them on the dirty side of the grid, a negative picture of the day is complete.

Felipe’s best time in Q3 was a 1.36.937, while Fernando posted a 1.37.300: Vettel took pole in 1.35.657, thus creating the biggest gap since the start of the season. Today, the main problem was clearly getting the tyres to the correct operating temperature, which in fact was also the case yesterday. Tomorrow looks like being a very tough race in which the main aim will be to keep the championship fight alive to Brazil.