Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies took stock of one of the most difficult weekends faced by Ferrari in recent years. The analytical approach of an engineer emerges, focused on solutions (i.e. what will be) rather than the problem itself (what it is today).
A problem, the one accused in Spa by the two SF1000s, whose origins are not yet clear, and which Makies admits to having taken the team off guard.
Waiting to know the nature of the ‘mysterious’ evil that hit the Reds in Belgium, the French engineer hopes for a wet race and praises the team spirit that emerged in a difficult moment, with Leclerc and Vettel in the front row trying to make group.
Mattia Binotto pointed out the problem in the impossibility of getting the tires up to temperature …
“Yes, right. On Friday we found ourselves facing an exceptional situation. We have not yet fully understood what caused this situation, but fortunately these are circumstances that rarely happen “.
“We couldn’t get the car to work, and it was a surprise, we tried everything between Friday and yesterday morning to solve the situation, the car improved the tire performance a bit and at least we managed to give the drivers a better feeling with the car “.
“We made some progress by improving the position in qualifying a bit, and in some respects it was a positive job, but the negative part of the situation remains, that is, we need to understand what is the root cause that has brought us so much out of the right window. make the tires work “.
Is that something that still worries you?
“We have to dig into the problem to make sure we understand what caused this situation, at the moment we have information that should allow us to face the race without having to start off off guard. Everyone, from the drivers to the engineers, maintained the right attitude and the right approach after the difficulties we encountered on Friday, and after practice we worked at night to try to solve the problems by counting on the support of the guys in the factory. “
“We have not reversed the situation as we would have liked, but we are certainly in a better condition on Friday. It is nowhere near our position, but as mentioned this will be the next face, to understand what happened”.
What kind of work was done before the qualification?
“I don’t think we have really found a solution, we haven’t gotten out of the problems we have on this track yet. We tried very different setups to try to regain confidence and try to make the tires work by checking with some progress, then in the race we know that the situation will be different, we also have a little more downforce than the competition, and perhaps this choice it will help us if the weather is not the best “.
Forecasts confirm the possibility of a race partially or completely in the rain. Do you think it could be a bonus for you to exploit?
“I would say yes, when you start that far back, any variable that can contribute to shuffling the cards a bit is welcome. Then, as I said, we focused on a higher downforce than our direct rivals, and this could turn into an advantage in the event of a wet race ”.
If there is a chance to take any risks will you do it?
“Yes, absolutely, if the opportunity presents itself we will. Ours is a difficult moment and we have to overcome it, then as I said even when we found ourselves in the group, we are living in a situation that will teach us a lot, and I’m sure there will also be a positive aspect for the whole team when we get back to our pace. “.
Many insiders claim that your first problem is the lack of power from the power unit. Do you think there is only one problem or more deficient situations?
“I don’t want to be misunderstood: we know that the performance this year is not good, and we don’t want to run away from the problems. At the same time we know that there is a limit to what we can do in the short term, just as we know that the type of slopes like Spa does not help us “.
“We also know that these types of tracks do not come in the direction of our car. Having said that, we are still very dissatisfied with the starting point and how the car worked on Friday, but luckily we have recovered some ground. In the meantime we have also wasted time trying to solve the problems we have, without yet having come up with a certain reason “.
What can you realistically expect from the race?
“This is a track where overtaking is possible. I’m not saying we have the pace to be able to make up positions easily, but with a high probability of rain, with a car that has been focused on the race setup and being able to count on Seb and Charles, you never know. “
“I have to say that in a not so easy moment, like this weekend, our riders have done very well with the team. I’m sure we all want to try and we will fight hard to try and bring home some points. our goal in the race ”.
Laurent Mekies, Sporting Director, Ferrari
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Foto di: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, first place, Mattia Binotto, Team Principal Ferrari, Laurent Mekies, Sporting Director, Ferrari, and the Ferrari team celebrate victory
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Foto di: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000, George Russell, Williams FW43
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Photo at: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000, in the pit lane after Q2
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo at: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The rear wing and the DRS actuator on Charles Leclerc’s car, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
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Foto di: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo at: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000
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Foto di: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W11
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Foto di: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo at: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF1000
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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
