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SILVERSTONE, England - Ferrari needs to be faster on and off-track, driver Fernando Alonso said on Saturday after the team reacted slowly to changing weather during qualifying and paid the price.
Alonso qualified only 19th, team mate Kimi Raikkonen 20th, of 22 drivers after their team made a series of wrong calls on tyre selection on a wet and windy afternoon. Each will move up a grid place when penalties are applied to other drivers.
It was the first time since 2010 that Alonso failed to make it through the first phase of qualifying that normally separates the tail-enders from the rest. And both Williams cars which started the previous race in Austria on the front row, also failed to make it through the opening session.
'UPHILL STRUGGLE COMING'
Alonso told reporters: "We need to do better next time. I think the bigger teams have longer procedures than smaller teams so we need to speed up some of the communications and some of the things that we do."
The team's technical head Pat Fry said qualifying, after Alonso was third-fastest in Friday practice, was bitterly disappointing. "It means we will have an uphill struggle on Sunday with a plan to attack from the first to the last lap."
He explained that conditions were mixed at the start of qualifying, with a lot of water on some parts of the circuit while other sections were drying or dry.
Williams, which had Finland's Valtteri Bottas and Brazilian Felipe Massa 17th and 18th in qualifying (although they will start 15th and 16th) were equally disappointed. The team's engineering head Pat Symonds said: "It was down to seconds of timing and ourselves and Ferrari didn't get the best of that opportunity.
"We didn't see that rain coming, to be honest."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 Silverstone F1 GP weekend.
Here's the starting grid for the 2014 British Formula 1 GP
1 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes
2 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull
3 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren
4 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India
5 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren
6 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes
7 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India
8 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull
9 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso
10 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso
11 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus
12 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia
14 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber
15 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus
15 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams
16 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams
17 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari
18 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia
19 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari
20 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham
21 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber
22 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham
Alonso qualified only 19th, team mate Kimi Raikkonen 20th, of 22 drivers after their team made a series of wrong calls on tyre selection on a wet and windy afternoon. Each will move up a grid place when penalties are applied to other drivers.
It was the first time since 2010 that Alonso failed to make it through the first phase of qualifying that normally separates the tail-enders from the rest. And both Williams cars which started the previous race in Austria on the front row, also failed to make it through the opening session.
'UPHILL STRUGGLE COMING'
Alonso told reporters: "We need to do better next time. I think the bigger teams have longer procedures than smaller teams so we need to speed up some of the communications and some of the things that we do."
The team's technical head Pat Fry said qualifying, after Alonso was third-fastest in Friday practice, was bitterly disappointing. "It means we will have an uphill struggle on Sunday with a plan to attack from the first to the last lap."
He explained that conditions were mixed at the start of qualifying, with a lot of water on some parts of the circuit while other sections were drying or dry.
Williams, which had Finland's Valtteri Bottas and Brazilian Felipe Massa 17th and 18th in qualifying (although they will start 15th and 16th) were equally disappointed. The team's engineering head Pat Symonds said: "It was down to seconds of timing and ourselves and Ferrari didn't get the best of that opportunity.
"We didn't see that rain coming, to be honest."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 Silverstone F1 GP weekend.
Here's the starting grid for the 2014 British Formula 1 GP
1 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes
2 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull
3 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren
4 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India
5 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren
6 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes
7 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India
8 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull
9 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso
10 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso
11 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus
12 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia
14 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber
15 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus
15 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams
16 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams
17 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari
18 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia
19 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari
20 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham
21 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber
22 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham
