The setback on the starting grid imposed on Charles Leclerc for the replacement of the ICE and turbo components on his power unit, he denied Ferrari the satisfaction of seeing an all-red front row in Austin today. However, yesterday’s qualifying confirmed the competitiveness of F1-75 on the American track, with the splendid pole position centered by Carlos Sainz and the second position of Leclerc himself, good at staying ahead of Max Verstappen once again on Saturday. However, tonight’s race does not promise to be easy for the Maranello team: the competitiveness of Red Bull and the risks that Leclerc will have to run to be able to get back from the 12th starting square, in fact, will force Sainz to work overtime to guarantee himself a chance of repeat the success achieved this year in the Silverstone race.
The sporting director of Ferrari, Laurent Mekieshowever, he wanted to highlight the good work done by the entire red team, who returned to battle for the top stably: “The whole team did a great job in one of the most difficult qualifying sessions of the season – commented the French manager – we were able to work less than usual to prepare, because we only had one free practice session available due to the 2023 tire test. this complex picture Carlos and Charles did an excellent job“.
With a view to the race, Mekies focused on possible strategies, clarifying to everyone how, except in particular situations, it will be a GP characterized by two pit stops for all the protagonists. “The race promises to be full of variables: tire degradation will be added to the natural pitfalls of the track, it will almost certainly be a two-stop race and after today we know that the gaps with our competitors are incredibly small. For this reason, it is likely to expect a match against six – added the red ds, including the two Mercedes in the challenge for success – with Carlos it will be important to have a good start and take care of tire management in the best possible way, while Charles will be called to recover from the center of the group. Finally, I want to express my and the team’s closeness to Red Bull and AlphaTauri for the loss of Dietrich Mateschitz. His passion for engines and great sporting challenges will be missed by all of us “he concluded.
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