Ferrari Racing Director gives verdict on ‘hectic and closely fought qualifying’ | 2021 Turkish GP. Ferrari Racing Director on quali at Istanbul Park.

Scuderia Ferrari can be happy with the performance in the qualifying sessionfor the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix. Charles secured a spot on the second row thanks to a great last lap in Q3, when he set the fourth fastest time in 1’23”265. It means he starts ahead of all the Maranello team’s direct opponent in the fight for third place in the 2021 Formula One Constructors’ standings.

Difficult conditions. It was an exciting 60 minutes with rain falling for a good part of Q1, rendering conditions tricky for the rest of the sessions. Everyone in the team, the drivers, those on the pit wall and in the garage, did an great job in making the most of every opportunity. Carlos Sainz played a very important role even though he was always going to start from the back of the grid having changed his power unit. He thus did all he could to help the team, firstly by getting into Q2 and eliminating one of the main rivals in the Constructors’ battle and then by giving Charles a tow on his final run in Q2.

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Ferrari Racing Director Laurent Mekies comments and impressions at the end of the qualifying session for the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park:

“It was a hectic and closely fought qualifying session and the result shows we did a good job of preparing for this Grand Prix. It wasn’t easy managing all the variables today, starting with the weather and the choices to be made in terms of levels of aero downforce, especially for Charles. He did a great job, keeping calm even when the situation looked complicated and then he pulled it out of the bag in the end with a wonderful lap. Carlos showed great team spirit, yesterday getting on with a different but useful programme which we hope will pay off tomorrow and today he also played his part when the need arose. We are well aware the points are given out tomorrow and that tyre management will be very difficult in the race, but we will do our best as always.” – Laurent Mekies said, as reported by the Maranello team’s official website at the end of qualifying.