It's difficult but we need to draw our own conclusions based on times recorded. I'm not being anti British in saying this, but over here in New Zealand all the reports we read are from the British media and don't appear to be that reliable. It's obvious they pick up anything negative relating to Ferrari and concentrate on any problems they may be having, while at the same time talking up McLaren and Red Bull. Am I being paranoid, I don't think so. I'll give an example from the BBC's reporting of lap times, from the first two days in Barcelona.
Vellel was .374sec quicker on his second day in the car.
Hamilton was .216sec slower on his second day in the car.
Alonso was .92sec quicker on his second day. That's only 8 hundredths short of a full second.
The BBC concentrated most of their report on comparing Vettel and Hamilton, stating that Alonso was half a second quicker on day two. When Alonso records a time of 1.24.10 on day one and 1.23.18 on day two, nearly a full second gain on the previous day, more than any other driver over the two days, the BBC should make a little more effort. Still, why let accurate reporting of times get in the way of the story if it doesn't suit the impression your trying to create, in this case, Ferrari struggling.
There's always the argument that no one is showing their hand. I personally believe all the top drivers will put in at least two laps when they lean on their car to get some idea of how the changes they're making react when the car is pushed. My understanding is Alonso wasn't on the supersofts when he made that 1sec gain. He did put supersofts on later in the session but didn't set a time on them.
Of course Ferrari have their problems, I wouldn't expect anything less with a brand new car. I also believe they're slowly getting to understand their car and I'll be very surprised if they're not in the thick of the title fight as the season progresses.
Apart from the fact he's been the team mate of two world champions, and a so so driver.
