Scuderia Ferrari
Felipe Massa does not believe that Ferrari will be able to make noteworthy progress during his penultimate race with the team in Austin.
Massa was 12th fastest in second practice at the Circuit of the Americas.
"Compared to recent races, the car has stayed the same and therefore we cannot expect a very different level of performance," he said.
"But it’s definitely important to understand why the car changed so much between the two sessions, especially as compared to last year, the asphalt has improved a lot and the grip has increased considerably. I don’t think that is down to the rise in temperature, but maybe the wind didn’t help. Now we have a lot of work ahead of us to try and improve for the rest of the weekend."
Team-mate Fernando Alonso was tenth quickest and did not encounter any problems with his back.
"My back felt fine and I was able to drive the same as always," he said.
"Compared to last year, the track conditions seemed better: for the first Grand Prix here, it was too new and there was a bit of oil on the track, while now there’s a lot more grip. As expected, there was very little degradation as Pirelli’s choice of the Medium and Hard compounds here in Austin are an ultra-conservative choice. Generally, there were no major surprises."
