The last qualifying session of the 2022 Formula One championship saw Ferrari secure the second row at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, behind the two Red Bull cars and ahead of the two Mercedes.
A sort of representative photograph of the current season and – hopefully in Maranello – also of the final standings of the Constructors’ championship at the end of the 58 laps that will take place at the Yas Marina track. The third and fourth place on the grid taken by the Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz can be seen as a decent result, according to the Maranello team’s sporting director Laurent Mekies.
In fact, in all the free practice sessions, the F1-75 cars had seemed slower than the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. However, in the qualifying session at Yas Marina, when it mattered the most, the values were reversed.
“This weekend we want to get the most out of the car, without being influenced by the performance of Mercedes and Red Bull – Laurent Mekies himself explained for Sky Sport F1 microphones – yesterday we weren’t in great shape but we tried to optimize what we had. Charles and Carlos have taken a step forward and I think the path towards qualifying has been built well. Mercedes is behind and we are close to Red Bull. In the race we know that they have something more in terms of pace, but we’re here to fight with them.”
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The French manager underlined how the team was able to take advantage of the natural evolution of the track and the lower temperatures in the Abu Dhabi evening.
“We had already hoped since yesterday that the track would come in our direction. All the cars are stronger in the evening with the colder track, but given our characteristics we imagined it would go more towards us. It seems to have been like this – Laurent Mekies acknowledged – Carlos and Charles did a great job. They have been very strong. This allows us to be ahead of the Mercedes” – the French manager explained.
Finally, the Ferrari sporting director confirmed the team was already focused on 2023, making it clear that Ferrari has confidence in the work that is being carried out in preparing next year’s car: “This year we stopped development before Mercedes and Red Bull, so for 2023 we hope to be virtually closer to Red Bull than two tenths today. Then the two months of work in the off season remain a long time and we will have to see who has done the best job in the winter. There are also some changes to the floor, which will have a different impact on each team “, concluded the former FIA man.
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