Fernando Alonso is optimistic that he can improve in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday after finishing practice two in 14th position at Barcelona, 1.201 seconds behind Jenson Button, who was fastest.
The Spaniard was quickest in first practice but was unable to capitalize in the second session after failing to get a clear lap on soft tires. He had been hoping to demonstrate the revised Ferrari's pace after a positive test at Mugello where he set the third fastest time over the three days.
"We didn't improve as much as some other cars, some improved by between one and 1.5 seconds [on soft tires] and I was not able to push them," Alonso said. "I was unable to get a clean lap and [on] my third lap I had traffic as well, so I think I can improve a bit tomorrow with a clean lap and hopefully I can see this advantage that everyone seems to find on the soft."
Alonso said he cannot be certain if Ferrari has made enough of a step forward until after the race on Sunday, but he says the car is behaving as he had expected and he is more confident of getting into the final part of qualifying.
"I am confident that we will do the job and with the updates the first signs are positive; we need to look more at the data but it looks as we suspected," he said. "Tomorrow, hopefully we can see some positive signs and we can get into Q3 a little bit more relaxed this time."