After David Sanchez’s departure, which was officially announced a few weeks ago as he moved to McLaren, the confirmation of Laurent Mekies’ move to AlphaTauri as team principal came just a few days ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. However, a precise date has not yet been set due to contractual issues between Ferrari and the French engineer, who is still at the track representing the Maranello team during the Baku weekend.
Both the team principal and drivers of the Ferrari team emphasized Laurent Mekies’ qualities, highlighting that there are opportunities which one must seize in their career, just like the one that has come to the Frenchman’s table.
“[Mekies] is a fantastic person, a very strong figure. He is taking a step forward in his career and I can only be happy for him. When such an important role is offered to you, I believe you have to accept it,” said Carlos Sainz regarding the future departure of the Ferrari sporting director, a role he held for five seasons.
Despite the recent high-profile departures, which add to those of people working behind the scenes, Carlos Sainz is confident about the future because he knows that new personnel is coming to replace those who have left the team as part of the restructuring process.
“We are also hiring new personnel, it’s not like we’re just losing [people]. We’re doing our best to restructure the team to make it stronger. I’m sure there will be people coming to compensate for the recent losses we’ve had. It’s just that sometimes the losses happen more quickly than the time needed to hire new people. But I’m confident about Fred [Vasseur]’s approach, the management, and how things are being handled, because I also see good things coming,” added the Spaniard.
Regarding the track, a new format is expected for the Baku weekend, including two qualifying sessions for the two races, the sprint, and the “classic” one over a distance of three hundred kilometers. This format will require even more effort from teams and drivers, who will have to quickly find confidence in the car given the little time available to adjust the setup.
“I think the format is different from last year, it will require a slightly different approach, but we are here to race and be competitive. The qualifying on Saturday will be complicated, especially waking up in the morning and going straight to Q1. I will need a good warm-up, maybe a cold shower so that I’m really ready,” Carlos Sainz joked – “After qualifying, there will be the sprint. It will be exciting, with more action laps during the weekend. It will surely be more mentally and physically demanding for us drivers, but if it makes fans and media happy and makes the product better, then we’ll do it.”
The three-week break after the Australian Grand Prix proved useful for analyzing the data and modifications that had been made before the Melbourne weekend, for which a slightly different approach to setups had been chosen. Carlos Sainz is convinced that these modifications have had an effect, helping the SF-23 perform better in the race, a weak point for the Maranello team in this early part of the 2023 Formula One season.
“After these three weeks, we know our car better, we have been able to do good analysis, we know the direction to take for our development program in the future. Identifying the weaknesses of our car was the primary goal, then understanding the strengths of our rivals, in this case Red Bull. We’re doing our best to be able to duel with them as quickly as possible. The chances for this weekend should be similar to those we had in Australia. In Melbourne, we took a slightly different direction regarding the setup, something that seems to have worked, as we were quite fast in the race. We hope to be able to go in that direction and be more competitive this weekend.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz concluded ahead of the Baku Grand Prix.
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