Fernando Alonso admits Ferrari have their work cut out ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was 0.336s off Sebastian Vettel's pace during the opening practice session of the season at Albert Park on Friday morning, but then slipped to 0.840s behind the Red Bull driver later in the afternoon.
However, Ferrari will be quick to point out that they were more interested in collecting data with Alonso and team-mate Felipe Massa completing 100 laps between them.
Double World Champion Alonso concedes they were always going to be slightly off the pace and know they have to put in some extra yards ahead of the race.
"I'm not expecting any major surprises here, we already knew we were not the quickest and that was confirmed today," he said. "The car responds well, but we know there is still much to do if we want to fight with the very best."
Alonso believes the good weather in Melbourne also gave the team a boost in terms of the work they managed to do.
"Overall, this was a very productive Friday, as we did a lot of laps and got through an important initial analysis of the behaviour of the two types of Pirelli tyres available for this race.
"Our efforts were helped by particularly favourable weather with sunshine and summery temperatures. However, the weather is expected to change completely from tomorrow, with wind, rain and a significant drop in temperature, which could influence Sunday's race."Related Links
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Friday's pictures from Australia
