Scuderia Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes all have a chance of fighting for the race win in this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix at the 5.063-kilometre Marina Bay Street Circuit, according to Ferrari Racing Director Laurent Mekies, who took part in Saturday’s press conference.
The Maranello team ended Friday practice at the Marina Bay Street Circuit with the best results in FP2, as Carlos Sainz led team mate Charles Leclerc in a one-two finish, despite the Monegasque driver was not able to complete as many laps as he would have liked, due to a technical issue which Ferrari fixed during FP2.
Yet Red Bull and Mercedes also had some difficult practice sessions on Friday due to several reasons, as Laurent Mekies feels their main rivals will be pushing them all the way this weekend in Singapore. Scuderia Ferrari has fond memories from the last time Formula 1 came to visit Singapore, which took place back in 2019 (since then the race could not take place given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic). Three years ago, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel secured his final race win for the Maranello team at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, while his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc completed a great one-two finish.
Asked about the prospects of repeating such a result this weekend in Singapore, the Ferrari Racing Director explained: “Well, 2019 was a very good memory. It was a tight fight at the time with Mercedes and it was very good to put both our cars up there. It’s a very different picture this year; it’s going to be a three-way fight, as it has been in the last few races. We expect not only Red Bull but also Mercedes to be in the fight for the win with us this weekend. It’s still a long way [to go] for a repeat of that performance, but it’s the sort of fight we love.” – he added.
Following some difficulties for Charles Leclerc in the second free practice session, which allowed him to complete just 14 fast laps during the one-hour session, Laurent Mekies admitted that the Italian side will Saturday’s final practice session wisely to get him in optimal shape for the qualifying session.
“At this type of track – like Monaco, like here – you don’t want to lose track time. Unfortunately, for various different reasons, that’s what happened with Charles yesterday – there was nothing he could do about it. [Charles] is very experienced now. We’ll try to play catch up a little bit today with the FP3 programme, a bit more time on the track for him hopefully if the weather allows. I’m sure that by the time qualifying comes and the race comes, he’ll be fully up to speed.” – the Ferrari Racing Director concluded.
Charles Leclerc starts the Singapore Grand Prix with a 116-point deficit to championship leader Max Verstappen, while the Maranello team have to defend second place against Mercedes, with Ferrari currently having a 35-point advantage in the duel for P2.
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